Danganronpa: The Pitiful Plague Called Ignorance (SYOC CLOSED)
by RioA
Summary: Darkness was all she saw. She tried to breathe, but failed. She tried to think, but that failed as well. To think would mean to erase the darkness that hid the truth behind blotches of black ink. However, the truth will be revealed sooner or later, and she will have to learn of the horrors around her, but will that time be now, or will it be later when it is too late? (SYOC CLOSED)
1. An Introduction to the Abyss

Words do not hold their original meanings today. They are thrown merely to degrade others or to lighten a situation. Rarely do civilians nowadays recall what the actual meaning of the word was. People vomit words such as 'winsome' and 'preprocessing' when in actuality that word 'handsome' or 'beautiful' could've been used. They either use words to sound intelligent, or because that word is now the one used to describe a particular scenario.

It is truly a tragedy, but that is how the world evolves. Even if the so-called geniuses despised the world's advancement in history, these geniuses would've come to terms with it if they lived a generation ago. Life is different for everyone, and it must be embraced no matter what. People believe their hardships are the worst ever in humanity when in reality, it's not. The world is ever changing, and it is most certainly better than that from the past.

People are becoming smarter as every second passes by. Babies are being born into this world and more land is being found. People are trying to conserve energy and solve the problem to global warming.

Even if these problems have been formed now, these problems can only be solved by the world's advancement. The solution to solving the dwindling lack of food can only be found in this generation where scientists discovered the concept of making artificial food.

It is wonderful. This world was truly a wonderful place.

It was magnificent. It was beautiful.

It was truly a wonderful world in Mayari's eyes-

-that is, until she had been rudely awoken, forced out of that wonderful paradise.

Opening her emerald green eyes, she realized that the color of her irises were uncanny in comparison to the dullness of her surroundings. Her eyes were sparkling and a beauty, expressive without needing a face. Her irises held a picture of her surroundings, and once captured inside the dullness of the setting only threw her off.

She was staring up at a light. A dim light that flickers on and off repeatedly. The ceiling that held the light together was a horrible white color, painted in cobwebs and cracks. It seemed like that whiteness was beginning to turn into a horrid vomit yellow, albeit faintly.

 _Where am I?_

That was the first thought that circled through her mind. She felt strands of her black hair in her dry lips, and quickly she coughed it out.

She registered the fact that her head was lying on a flat pillow. It wasn't soft nor was it hard- it was just bland.

She also registered that her body was lying on a bed. A hospital bed, to be exact. White sheets, an uncanny feeling of discomfort- it was definitely a hospital bed she had been sleeping on.

 _Why though?_

Why was she sleeping on a hospital bed? Her heart throbbed, and she forced her body to move. Placing her hands down as support, she sat herself up.

Having pinpointed that white ceiling and bed, Mayari came to a conclusion that she was inside a hospital room- and that educated guess was correct.

The room she was inside in was definitely that of a hospital room.

Not completely a hospital room that most civilians would find themselves in, but that of an old, worn down room.

The walls were white, yet like the ceiling atop the walls were beginning to tear and there were cracks everywhere. It was old and dusty, dust bunnies scattered on the ground. Mayari could even see a spider from the bottom left of the corner, the little critter beginning to make a cobweb from scratch.

There was an IV Pole that was hooked to the right side of the woman, though it was empty except for a few droplets of purple liquid. The cabinet to the left was completely worn down, brittle and metal rusty. On top of the cabinet were medical supplies that ranged from syringes to scissors to tissues. It frightened Mayari, and she immediately diverted her attention to the windows.

The windows were covered up, barred and completely ironed away. There was no light to be seen from the outside world, the iron curtains having trapped Mayari inside, secured and unable to be removed. There were even spikes surrounding the edges of the windows, daring her to even try.

 _Okay…_ Mayari bit into her lips. She felt cold sweat trickling down from her forehead, chills sending down her spine. _This is obviously a hospital, but at the same time… It's pretty worn down and creepy. Where am I?_

Mayari looked down at her light brown hands. They were shaking.

 _Don't worry about it,_ the woman assured herself, her breathing long and vocal. _It's alright for you to to be scared. I wonder if there's anything I could find if I could go outside._

Her eyes paid attention to the iron door. It was closed, slightly torn and rusty.

She pursed her lips. Her body was shaking. Her heartbeat was echoing inside of her brain, her face paling.

She frowned. She slapped her cheeks.

 _Don't be scared! You can do this, Mayari. Remember your motto- 'Short people live longer lives!'_

Assuring herself two or three more times, the woman jumped out from the bed. That only seemed to do her worse, her entire body stiff.

"Ow…"

Mayari groaned, stretching her arms and kicking out her legs. She rubbed the crust from her eyes before continuing forth.

She placed her hand on the door handle. It was cold and rusty. Mayari could feel the metallic paint rubbing off, sticking to her fingers.

The door creaked open. Mayari poked her head out of the door, taking a look down the hallways.

Dark, worn down, and dusty.

… _It's like I'm in some horror game. Are zombies going to attack me?_

Mayari forced a smile from her lips, however the moment she brought a foot out did she instantly regret it.

Something dropped from the ceiling.

It was a letter. It was a letter colored with thorns and crimson.

 _What the hell?_

Mayari froze as the letter gently fell to her foot. She eyed it for a moment, still. Nothing happened. Now curious, albeit still fearful, the raven grabbed the letter with the tip of her fingers. She brought it slowly to her face, now reading it to herself.

["Dear Mayari Liu, the Ultimate Epidemiologist,

Welcome! It seems like you have woken up quite earlier than the rest of the patients here. That isn't bad nor is it something to concern yourself over, but it is something that I must keep note of as your caretaker, nonetheless the others' as well.

Now, I cannot be here at this moment, but please do not fret. I will be here soon enough to answer any questions you and the others may have, but for now you should wait patiently. You could wake up the others that are inside this building, or you could wait in the lobby. It is up to you.

Do not worry about who I am nor what you are doing here. Everything will be explained shortly.

Sincerely,

Your Caretaker."]

* * *

 **Mayari Liu**

 **Ultimate Epidemiologist**

* * *

Mayari frowned, looking at the letter. She looked at it for a second time. A third time. And then a fourth time.

Yes, she was completely clueless.

She was completely clueless as to what was about to come.

* * *

… And that is the preview to this story! Yes, this is my third story out here that is a SYOC, but I have a lot of motivation for this particular story! I am hoping that I will be able to finish Disparity (most likely) and AoD (though to be honest it might be at the halfway point instead) soon when this story gets running.

Let me explain a bit about how this story will be. This story will be much more darker than the other two stories, the theme for this case being Ignorance vs. Knowledge. There will also be other themes inside of the story including Danganronpa's original themes though~

Also, if anyone does want to join a Discord server I have up for this story, please do tell me so~ I'm more than happy to invite you in~

 **RULES:**

 **1\. Please only use PM, do not submit characters through reviews.**

 **2\. No bullying is allowed here. If I see anyone bully someone else, their character will be disqualified.**

 **3\. You can send up to five characters. At most I will accept two or three into the roster if needed though.**

 **4\. Like always, please do not make a character 'perfect'. A character being perfect will only ruin the story, and the fun that'll happen in the story.**

 **5\. I do not want any recycled characters being submitted. A character who's from a story that's dead are fine however. If I see that a character is being recycled or has been recycled, they are disqualified.**

 **6\. Please title the form with 'TPPCI - [Name, Talent]' so I can keep track of the submissions.**

 **Please remember that this is my story and I am doing this out of fun. I will try to update this story as quickly and efficiently as I could, however I do not want people to continuously harass me to update. I have a life outside of Fanfiction XD And, yes, I have the luxury of making your characters suffer.**

 **I might ask you questions about your characters at times, just a quick heads up.**

 **The deadline for this story will be in _either late December or early January_** **(in 2020, haha), however I can extend the deadline if I need and also, if you must need an extension please tell me at least five days before the deadline passes.**

* * *

 _Note: Anything with a '*' in front of it means that it is merely recommended, it isn't required to be filled._

* * *

-BASIC-

Name: (First, then last name.)

Age: (Around 13-18, though if you can go higher please explain why.)

Talent: (Self-explanatory. I do not mind talents which came from the original Danganronpa series, and feel free to go wild! … As long as it makes sense.)

Gender: (Male, female, or non-binary~)

Sexuality: (I'm open to anything here.)

Nationality: (It could be from anywhere, as long as it is a country.)

Ethnicity: (Anything~ As long as it is from a country in the world.)

Birthday:

Height:

Weight:

-APPEARANCE-

Physical Appearance: (I do not mind a lot of details here. Please, I enjoy picturing what a character looks like! Are they muscular or skinny? Do they have round eyes or small eyes? Please tell me about your character here.)

Basic Clothing: (This is what your character will wear throughout the entire story. I don't mind a numerous amount of details here as long as your character isn't too over the top. Also, please make what the character wear appropriate.)

*Preference of Clothing: (What sort of clothing does your character tend to where? Do they like wearing dark clothing or light clothing? Do they enjoy wearing tight clothes, or do they despise it?)

-PERSONALITY-

Outward Personality: (This is how your character presents themselves on the outside. Not everyone acts the same outwardly than they do to themselves. Are they more quieter towards others, or do they exaggerate their personality? The outward and inward personalities should be the most detailed other than backstory.)

Inward Personality: (This is how your character truly acts. Are they more cynical? Are they actually completely different than how they present themselves?)

*Mental/Physical Disorders:

*Diseases/Allergies:

Habits/Mannerisms: (Does your character have any quirks that makes them different from others? Do they tend to tap their chin or use their hands a lot when talking?)

Speech: (How does your character speak? Do they have a low or high voice? Do they speak slowly or not?)

Quotes: (Just give me a few quotes so I can have a general idea of what your character sounds and/or talks like.)

Hobbies: (About at least three here~)

Likes: (At least three would be fine.)

Dislikes: (At least three would be fine.)

*Outlook on Life: (How does your character view life? Do they embrace life openly, or do they hold a more cynical view of life in general?)

*Outlook on Death: (In comparison, what does your character think about death? Is it natural or is it scary? What defines as 'death' in their eyes and what makes them appreciate it?)

People They Like:

People They Dislike:

*Romance: (Do they want to be in a romance? If so, who do they tend to fall for? Do they like long haired people or short haired people? In personality, do they go for more confident types of shy types?)

-HISTORY-

Backstory: (This should be the most detailed of the form. How did your character become who they are today? How did they become their Ultimate talent in the first person? How were they brought up?)

Family: (Please list your character's family members here. You do not need to give information about the character's family members, only their names and role to the character, though it would be appreciated.)

*Friends: (If there any noteworthy friends that your character can hold to themselves dearly, list them here.)

*Enemies: (If there is anyone whom your character finds themselves bitter towards, please list them here.)

*Reputation: (Is your character fairly popular or loathed? As an Ultimate, how popular are they?)

-DANGANRONPA-

Reaction to Killing Game:

Reaction to Body Discovery Announcement (Innocent/Guilty):

Reaction to Dead Body (Innocent/Guilty):

Role in Investigation (Innocent/Guilty):

Role in Trial (Innocent/Guilty):

Reaction When Accused (Innocent/Guilty):

Reaction to Execution (Innocent/Guilty):

In Execution (Innocent/Guilty):

Motive(s): (Please list at least two here so I can get a general idea of why your character would kill. Remember that anyone can kill, and this is Danganronpa.)

*Execution Idea: (An idea or two would be nice~)

*Free Time Event Ideas:

*Character Arc Ideas:

Justification for Survivor:

Justification for Murderer:

Justification for Victim:

Justification for Mastermind:

Preference?: (Do you prefer your character to be a survivor, murderer, victim, or mastermind? Quick note, if you do pick anything here just remember that I have the liberty of choosing what I deem fit in this story. Your choice will be considered, but not likely (especially for survivor).)

*Other: (Anything I might've missed? Do you want to throw criticism or say hi to me? Please tell me anything you feel like saying here.)

* * *

ROSTER:

Females:

1\. Mayari Liu - Ultimate Epidemiologist (RioA (Me))

2\. Margaret Barbara Simmons - Ultimate Makeup Historian (Prince PokePersona)

3\. Nao Mitsurugi - Ultimate Basketball Player (Lupus Overkill)

4\. Silvana 'Agna' Bellandi - Ultimate Sin Eater (TheRoseShadow21)

5\. Elodie Mallette - Ultimate Thanatologist (Ziggymia123)

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Males:

1\. Nobuyuki Kawaguchi - Ultimate Psychologist (mpjindustries)

2\. Mazen Ola - Ultimate Time Traveler (Swordsman795)

3\. Umaru Konul - Ultimate Composer (Shyjoker)

4\. Kenichi 'Keni' Sato - Ultimate Clinical Research Participant (Abitat Eco)

5\. Ray Oyama - Ultimate Ice Cream Maker (Orlando Butler)

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Non-Binary:

1\. Michi Uyeno - Ultimate Cartoonist (Shirasaur)

* * *

SUBMITTED GENDERS:

X51 Females

X56 Males

X1 Non-Binary

SUBMITTED TALENTS:

X1 Epidemiologist

X1 Haberdasher

X1 Animal Trainer

X1 Karate Practitioner

X1 Kabuki Actor

X1 Basketball Player

X1 Composer

X1 Makeup Historian

X1 Stringer

X1 Psychologist

X1 Time Traveler

X1 Sin-Eater

X1 Funk Musician

X1 Cthulhu Mythologist

X1 Hunter

X1 Science Explainer

X1 Priest

X1 Chiropractor

X1 Editor

X1 Origamist

X1 Televangelist

X1 Kickboxer

X1 Justice

X1 Homeopath

X1 Policewoman

X1 Investigative Journalist

X1 Hip Hop Artist

X1 Physicist

X1 Park Ranger

X1 Bad Luck

X1 Pediatrician

X1 Survivalist

X1 Barber

X1 Volunteer

X1 Aviator

X1 Fire Dancer

X1 Let's Player

X1 Cartoonist

X1 Assistant

X1 Strategist

X1 Vampire

X1 Theorist

X1 Acapella Singer

X1 Body Percussionist

X1 Dressmaker

X1 Unlucky Student

X1 Explorer

X1 Life Coach

X1 Comedian

X1 Codebreaker

X1 Negotiator

X1 Sharpshooter

X1 Failure

X1 Tailor

X1 Kinesthetic Analyst

X1 Personal Assistant

X1 Stalker

X1 Thanatologist

X1 Relief Medic

X1 Hacker

X1 Air Force Pilot

X1 TV Show Host

X1 Actress

X1 Candle Maker

X1 Clinical Research Participant

X1 Boxer

X1 CSI

X1 Fisherman

X1 Track and Field Star

X1 Good Samaritan

X1 Ice Cream Maker

X1 Organ Grinder

X1 Novelist

X1 Herbologist

X1 Narratologist

X1 Cartographer

X1 Ludologist

X1 Butler

X1 Worshipper

X1 Sociologist

X1 Majorette

x1 Picture Book Author

X1 Zumba Instructor

X1 Stuntwoman

X1 Violinist

X1 Phantom

X1 Amourer

X1 Forensics Expert

X1 Florist

X1 Literary Critic

X1 Info Broker

X1 Herbalist

X1 Figure Skater

X1 Matchmaker

X1 Biochemist

X1 Telemarketer

X1 Psychoanalyst

X1 Male Model

X1 Butler

X1 Personal Trainer

X1 Gardener

X1 Oracle

X1 Pageant Queen

X1 Criminal

X1 Roleplayer

X1 Stuntman

X1 Cheerleader

Prison Warden

Embalmer


	2. Cast Reveal

Hello, I am finally here with the cast reveal for the story! Honestly, choosing the cast for this story was really hard for me. A lot of the characters I received were all so well-written and amazing and I can definitely see them in this story, so it was hard narrowing down the cast list to what it is now. Everyone's characters were amazing and I'm glad you took the time to even make one for me! Truly, I do not deserve such kindness.

I even had to extend the cast to 20 because of how amazing a lot of the characters are. I wanted to keep the cast at an even number, and so seeing as Mayari is my character, I gave an extra slot for the girls to make it fair.

Well, to reveal the cast, I am going to be giving you all this short snippet for what's to come. Some of the names mentioned here are merely references of my friends' characters and I am in love with those characters here, haha. Anyways, if you do not want to read this, or you want to see the cast reveal, **skim to the end of the chapter in order to see the cast reveal!**

* * *

 **OPENING FILE #001**

* * *

Click, click, click. There was the sound of a keyboard being typed away and a mouse being repeatedly jammed into. The room was nothing short of dark, if not dim, only the computer screen acting as a light for the strangers inside the room.

"Sir, your oolong tea is ready."

A hum of acknowledgment. The tea was set to the side. Click, click, click.

He typed something into the screen. His servant looked over, noticing the words 'Project Anima' in bold.

More clicking. He clicked onto the search tab, and immediately links popped up, thousands of them lined down.

There were many articles that he clicked onto and read, skimming through the summaries of each one:

["GOVERNMENT PROJECT ANIMA: INFO RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC - It is reported that Project Anima was established for the purpose of sustaining life on Earth. With the issue of overpopulation steadily rising, the bountiful of projects are considered to be inadequate in comparison to Project Anima which…"]

["NEW INFO ON PROJECT ANIMA - With the official release of Project Anima in early January, 2XXX, there is new information pertaining the old project called Code Lumen, where…"]

["COMPARISONS BETWEEN CODE LUMEN AND PROJECT ANIMA - While both projects are supposed to mediate the situation pertaining overpopulation, they are both different in regards to…"]

Yet the public did not know the truth behind these projects. No one knew anything, only those deep within the government and dark web would know anything.

"Mr. Williams, sir?"

The man sighed as he turned to his servant, looking over at him with rather calm eyes. The black suit he was wearing was quite invisible under the darkness of the room. "Yes, what do you need, Etsuto?"

His servant, Etsuto, merely bowed his head down and answered, "I have compiled a list of reports concerning the events that happened for the week."

The long-haired man nodded. "What are they?"

Etsuto reached for the yellow file he had in hand, quickly opening it up and reading the contents out loud: "Mr. Nakahara had to escort a few people out from another accident around XXX Street, our troops are still on the move to stop those vigilante groups led by Mr. Mien and Mrs. Robinson specifically, and Ms. Fukui is-"

"Why is this about me, exactly?"

As if on cue, the door to the room opened, revealing the same silvery-haired woman they would see on a daily basis. Of course, the woman was next to her companion (or business worker, she honestly wanted to work alone), a purple-haired woman who was always seen as dashing inside the quarters.

"Oh, Ms. Fukui and Ms. Kateyama, you two are back." Etsuto blinked blankly, his concentration now broken. "How was your trip to the eighth division?"

A groan immediately escaped the silver-haired goddess. "As gullible as ever. They were complaining about the executioning process again."

"Miho, that's because you're gung-ho about executing people," her coworker mused, shaking her head with a playful (yet frustrated) sort of mood. "Maybe if you stopped enjoying it, then they wouldn't have a problem."

"Hmm, says the one who wants those evangelicals murdered, Lilith." Miho chuckled, smirking over at the taller woman who scoffed. Happy in her glory, she turned to eye Etsuto and her friend. "You have talked to the people in charge of this month's batch, correct?"

"Oh, nice." Lilith raised a brow. "Who's in this month's batch, Dakota?"

Etsuto coughed, "Please refer to him as-"

"It's alright." Dakota Williams spoke up.

He smiled calmly, then motioned for Etsuto to move. The orange-haired man nodded slowly, skimming through the file before handing a paper to Miho, the gloved woman grabbed it in her hands and carefully scanning through it, Lilith looking from behind her. It was the roster, the women nodding their heads.

* * *

 **XX/XX/2XXX ROSTER SHEET:**

Mayari Liu - Ultimate Epidemiologist

Margaret Barbara Simmons - Ultimate Makeup Historian

Nao Mitsurugi - Ultimate Basketball Player

Silvana 'Agna' Bellandi - Ultimate Sin Eater

Elodie Mallette - Ultimate Thanatologist

Rebeka Kerekes - Ultimate Ludologist

Hotaru Nakamura - Ultimate Stuntwoman

Mikoto Ikitai - Ultimate Picture Book Author

Nomi Kinjo - Ultimate Pet Detective

Machi Komazaki - Ultimate Biochemist

Nobuyuki Kawaguchi - Ultimate Psychologist

Mazen Ola - Ultimate Time Traveller

Umaru Konul - Ultimate Composer

Kenichi 'Keni' Sato - Ultimate Clinical Research Participant

Ray Oyama - Ultimate Ice Cream Maker

Akira Akimoto - Ultimate Negotiator

Jian Guo - Ultimate Physicist

Shura Kuznetsov - Ultimate Armourer

Gento Amatatsu-Tyne - Ultimate Ranch Hand

Michi Uyeno - Ultimate Cartoonist

* * *

"Ah… I see." Lilith was the first to speak out of the two, eyes peering over Dakota and Etsuto. "So, these are the potential candidates?"

"Yes. The higher ups told me they have considerable skills, better than the batches last year." Dakota chuckled grimly. "They seem to have great potential."

"Hmm, better be, even if I'm not in charge of them this time." Miho scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Are you part of the team in charge of handling those kids?"

"Oh, no. I was in charge of the last batch, remember?" The man raised a brow at the woman, who narrowed her brows. "I ended up shooting the remaining kids to death, as they weren't worth the time and effort."

"I remember that." The woman smirked, her expression morbid and dark. "The disappointment on your face was utterly hilarious. You looked so sad when you were ordered to execute the kids on the spot."

"It was a waste of energy on my part." He shrugged. "Etsuto didn't particularly care about it though."

Miho adjusted her cape, humming as she mused, "Well, best of luck to the team in charge of the candidates, then."

And they surely needed it. Surely.

* * *

 **FILE #001 ENDED**

* * *

Here's the actual cast list!

Females:

1\. Mayari Liu - Ultimate Epidemiologist **(Me - RioA)**

2\. Margaret Barbara Simmons - Ultimate Makeup Historian **(Prince PokePersona)**

3\. Nao Mitsurugi - Ultimate Basketball Player **(Lupus Overkill)**

4\. Silvana 'Agna' Bellandi - Ultimate Sin Eater **(TheRoseShadow21)**

5\. Elodie Mallette - Ultimate Thanatologist **(Ziggymia123)**

6\. Rebeka Kerekes - Ultimate Ludologist **(Prince PokePersona)**

7\. Hotaru Nakamura - Ultimate Stuntwoman **(cipher)**

8\. Mikoto Ikitai - Ultimate Picture Book Author **(cryptidren)**

9\. Nomi Kinjo - Ultimate Pet Detective **(iBlurt)**

10\. Machi Komazaki - Ultimate Biochemist **(Sharkeye)**

Males:

1\. Nobuyuki Kawaguchi - Ultimate Psychologist **(mpjindustries)**

2\. Mazen Ola - Ultimate Time Traveller **(Swordsman795)**

3\. Umaru Konul - Ultimate Composer **(Shyjoker)**

4\. Kenichi 'Keni' Sato - Ultimate Clinical Research Participant **(Abitat Eco)**

5\. Ray Oyama - Ultimate Ice Cream Maker **(Orlando Butler)**

6\. Akira Akimoto - Ultimate Negotiator **(TheBloperM)**

7\. Jian Guo - Ultimate Physicist **(Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera)**

8\. Shura Kuznetsov - Ultimate Armourer **(tobi-is-an-artist-too)**

9\. Gento Amatatsu-Tyne - Ultimate Ranch Hand **(YellowTheWriter)**

Non-Binary:

1\. Michi Uyeno - Ultimate Cartoonist **(Shirasaur)**

* * *

Like I said, everybody's character was unique and special in their own way! A lot of the characters were strong contestants for the roster, so it was really difficult in choosing one over the other. I had to go over possible character arcs and ideas for each of the contestants, especially wonder how they will tie into the plot and theme of the story... and here the cast was. There were some I had to cross out since other characters were stronger in matching a specific archetype, and some were accepted for possible character dynamics and plot twists I had in mind. Nevertheless, it was really hard to choose the characters for the roster since there were so many that I could see being fit into the story, but I needed a balance between the cast dynamic and my own balance between writing and work.

Nonetheless, I am very happy with the roster I have at the moment, and I can't wait for them to suffer- I mean have fun! I had plenty of ideas for this story, and since I've improved since Disparity was first posted, I hope I can do my utmost best to make everybody happy with this story!

Also, with that being said, I'll keep this in mind:

 **This story might be bumped to an M rating.** I am not going to be censoring or holding back this time in comparison to Disparity or Act of Despair (I had plenty of other plans for those stories, but I held back for the purpose of sanity and in fear of going 'too far'). I won't be tackling certain topics that are definitely more controversial, but I will be posting trigger warnings ahead of time in each chapter.

Anyways, that is all I have to say for the moment, so I'll hit everyone back up when I post the intro (which is coming soon, if you want to know ;) ). With that being settled, I hope you all have a great day!


	3. Overture (Prologue)

Hello! I know it's kinda quick for an introduction, but I wrote this quite a while ago, honestly. I had plenty of characters I could already write out and whatnot, and I was kinda a bit too hyped to write and get into the main story of this, so yeah! So, with that explained, I want to say that I hope you all have a great weekend and whatnot! I will start reviewing, well, reviews in the next chapter! Do not expect the next intro to come at such a quick rate. I have college classes starting soon, oops.

But anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 **BIG THANKS TO OUR BETA READER: Prince PokePersona!**

* * *

The letter, the one which was stained with a beautiful crimson, rose color with thorns as decors, seemed to be mocking Mayari.

Mayari was simply silent, unsure of what to do, where to go. Many questions had rung inside of her head, yet an answer was nowhere to be seen, nor to be thought of. She may find answers to her seemingly endless amount of questions by walking around the building alone, but she was human- there was a reason why 'curiosity killed the cat', after all. This generic, cliched saying meant to warn people of death that came in close with their foolish desire.

But, still, Mayari had to do something. What use was she if she did nothing?

No, she had to do something. Take deep breaths. One, two. One, two. She breathed in, and then breathed out. She placed a hand on her chest. Her heartbeat was normal, slightly erratic- no, that was a normal beat. Her eyes looked around the room. The same dim lights, same empty hallways, same dusty area.

She slapped her cheeks, forcing herself to leave her trance of fear. She forced a wide smile on her face and staring down the hallway from the right, went straight into a walking rhythm.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

She imagined sticks pounding against the drums. A marching band, one she had always seen in the television when she was a young girl. Her older brother marching, leading his class with a look of determination and joy. She imagined him singing with the trumpets in the background, the drums beating, and the voices of the audience. Walking down, marching down- her way down the hallways was hopefully less scary… hopefully.

Each step she took led her closer to the doors. These doors were meant to hospitalize the sick and ill, and, judging from where she was last positioned in, she figured she might as well find someone if she were to check the rooms.

Turn. She turned her body in front of the door, looking down south. Her small hand grabbed the cold doorknob, and she creaked it open. Slowly, but within seconds it did open.

She poked her head inside, and her first thought was to look at the person who was inside the room.

Well, not inside, but in the corner of the room where the dust bunnies would definitely pile up and stay.

The young woman found herself staring at another young woman (although she did look quite more mature than her, though that must've been because of height and looks). The young woman was staring at the dust bunnies, almost interestingly and curiously at them. Mayari could tell- her gray-blue eyes were almost sparkling in contrast to the dull room.

The woman was definitely intrigued by the dust bunnies. Mayari couldn't help but stifle a soft giggle at the sight.

"Huh?"

The woman turned to face Mayari. Her gray-blue eyes were slight wide once meeting the epidemiologist.

"Ah!" Mayari quickly realized what she had done. She bowed her head down immediately with her face pink. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh at you!"

The gray-blue-eyed woman stared confusingly at Mayari. She brushed back her locks of silvery-brown hair from her face before averting her gaze. She was a bit embarrassed herself, obviously realizing that she had been caught staring at an everyday occurrence. "No… it's fine…"

Mayari knew that she offended the light-haired brunette. The slight sniffle of the nose and the scrunched brows told her everything. Disappointment overcame Mayari's self-restraint and she immediately grabbed ahold of the woman's hands.

"H-huh?" The woman was shocked, blinking repeatedly as she eyed Mayari. "Uh… do you need something…?"

"Dust bunnies are really cute once you think about it." Mayari's tone was deeper than she usually sounded. "I totally get you."

The other woman fell into a baffled expression. "Uh… right?"

Mayari smiled cutely in response, letting go of the woman's hands. She clapped her hands together and winked at the woman. "Alright, with that out of the way, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

The gray-blue-eyed woman was hesitant. "Sure…"

"Mayari Liu's the name, and I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist." Mayari did not hesitate to show her pearly white teeth at the eye bagged woman. "Also, make fun of my height, and I'll kick your ass."

She seemed too busy with her pride over her introduction to notice her soon-to-be friend's flinch.

"So, who are you?"

The woman looked confused, almost a bit shy in speaking. She turned her gaze to the side, slowly getting up from the dusty floor to face Mayari. It was a shame that the woman was taller than Mayari though, but the epidemiologist did not bother to mention this.

The woman softly cleared her throat, murmuring, "I'm Silvana Bellandi… Ultimate Sin Eater. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Mayari…"

* * *

 **Silvana Bellandi**

 **Ultimate Sin Eater**

* * *

Silvana was pretty, to say the least. Though, that was subjective. It was obvious to Mayari that Silvana would've been regarded as a pretty woman to others if it weren't for how sleepy her eyes looked. Her gray-blue eyes were wide, however around her eyes were nothing more than sleepy bags and eyelids. If it weren't for her eyes, her proportional and symmetrical features would've stood out more to the common folk. Mayari even found her full, rosebud-like lips pretty. It almost made her blush- almost. Other than that, Silvana was generally skinny and waif-like, bony. Her build was nothing to gush over, though Mayari admitted her bust size and hair were quite the eyecatchers. She did look rather doll like as well, but untainted and pretty nonetheless.

Mayari even found herself interested in what Silvana wore. It looked quite similar to a wedding dress that guests would wear to a, well, wedding. Her dress was an ivory color, deep forest green with a lighter hue of green of vine-like patterns to the sides. Around her hip would be where her sash is thin. Above this beautiful dress of Silvana's would be a white lacy bolero, and at the bottom she'd wear lacy white thigh high socks and dark green pumps. What Mayari noticed that seemed to fit Silvana's talent was the long silver chain necklace over her neck- it had an ornately decorated pendant of a Christian cross hanging on it.

Mayari smiled as she took in Silvana's appearance. A beautiful young woman whom Mayari found herself attracted to. Although her bony appearance was something of a turn off to most others around the world, Mayari appreciated the woman's symmetrical looks. It was something to be jealous of, after all.

"But, I am curious." Mayari's raven locks bounced up and down to her movements. She stared straight into Silvana's gray-blue eyes. "I could tell that a sin eater, well, eats sins, but how exactly does your talent work?"

"Well…" Silvana began looking about in place, almost spacing off. She slowly kicked her foot left and right, obviously processing what to say. "... It's basically what you said. I… I eat sins. After reciting a prayer, I eat the sins from my client…"

"Hm, really?" Mayari frowned, crossing her arms. She observed the woman's uneasy expression and smiled, easily changing the subject with a simple, "Your dress looks pretty. Where'd you find it?"

Silvana's eyes widened, and her pale complexion suddenly turned a light shade of pink. "Ah, well, I made it."

"Oh, really?" The shorter woman instantly jumped at this. "That sounds so cool! So you can sew?"

"I can, yes." Silvana's face became a darker shade of pink. She quickly averted her gaze and began to laugh nervously, hands cupping and fingers rubbing against one another. "I… I'm not that good though."

"Aww, you're so modest about it! That's cute." Mayari giggled, amused. "Seriously though, you're good if you're able to make that sort of dress. It's just so pretty."

"Mayari, it's not that good…" Silvana was beginning to slouch, obviously flustered and overwhelmed. "I'm flattered."

Mayari grinned as she noticed the woman's posture. She poked at the woman before stepping back, finding herself at ease. She had almost forgotten where she and Silvana were.

 _Though I'd rather have us be ignorant about the whole situation and have her teach me how to sew clothes._

Mayari inwardly frowned to herself, but quickly shook the thought aside and threw Silvana a slightly colder expression. "Hey, do you know where we are?"

Silvana stared confusingly at Mayari for a moment, then shaking her head. "I'm sorry… I do not. I just know we're in a hospital… a slightly dirty one."

 _Hm, no shit._ Mayari frowned and crossed her arms. Her bangs swayed to the side. "Hm, well, I'll ask you this then- what do you remember and have you gotten a letter sent to you before I came?"

"A letter? Not really." Silvana bit into her lips, pondering. Fingers tap onto her sides. "About what I remember… it's blank."

"That's fine." The epidemiologist smiled sweetly. She pointed a finger up, now asking, "Have you seen anyone else since we got here?"

Silvana shook her head. Her gray-blue eyes were scanning the shorter woman. "No… I'm sorry, I just woke up here a few minutes ago. I didn't go out yet."

The epidemiologist instantly noticed the worry in the sin eater's face. Mayari chuckled and clapped her hands together. "Don't worry about it! I'm sure there'll be more people around here. It can't just be me and you."

"Hopefully." Silvana held her breath, eyes staring down at the dusty floor. "... I don't know why we're in a hospital like this regardless."

"That is something to consider," Mayari mumbled. She forced herself to smile and walked her way to the front entrance. She took a step outside and grinned at Silvana, beckoning her to follow. "Let's go."

Silvana looked uneasy at this, dread in her face. She didn't have anywhere else to go, and knowing that Mayari was the only person she's seen so far in the room, nonetheless one who was willing to talk and work with her, Silvana nodded and followed Mayari out.

Mayari heaved a deep sigh and pointed her emerald green eyes forward, downwards into the hallways. Each door was parallel to one another, none slightly inched further away or so from the door across the hall. It was perfect, almost too perfectly symmetrical.

 _It's a pain we have to search each room when they're most likely the same as the rest,_ Mayari thought, biting into her lips, _but there's no helping it. Someone might be sleeping there or something._

Mayari glanced over to Silvana's sleepy face. Spotting nothing more than a want to escape into fantasy, she assumed. The raven chuckled softly to herself, then opened the closest door from where they stood. A sense of deja vu filled her head, and the young woman sighed at such familiar surroundings upon the door's opening.

Same room, same smell, same bed, same IV bag… Everything looked the same as the rooms Mayari and Silvana were in beforehand. _Okay, this is definitely a hospital then. No bias or anything in the rooms so far._

But that was the least of her worries. What her emerald green eyes were most focused on, however, was the person who was covered beneath those scrawny hospital bed sheets. Those bed sheets were covering most of the person's appearance, but to Mayari and Silvana, it was quite obvious there was a person underneath those blankets- the gigantic bump did not tell anything less, after all.

Mayari blinked and turned to Silvana. "Who wants to wake them up?"

The sin eater merely sighed in response. "I mean, they're going to be rudely awakened by where they are regardless of what we do. Uh… I think."

"You don't need to second guess yourself." The shorter woman grinned. She didn't notice the slight blush on Silvana's cheeks, taking her first steps forward towards the sleeping beauty.

A one and two and three, and there Mayari could see the features of this person. The person who was sleeping without knowledge of their own situation was a handsomely beige-skinned man with messy pale gray hair. Mayari was unsure if his hair was messy because of the bed and his movements (he was already moving and rolling no matter how much time passed), but nonetheless, the averagely toned man needed to be awakened.

 _Okay, one, two, and-_

"YAHOO, WAKEY WAKEY!"

Mayari cheerfully swiped at the man's shoulders, causing a shocked gasp to escape from his lips. The woman grinned as she took a more careful look at him.

Upon closer inspection, the caped woman could see the handsome man fully. She took instant notice of his narrow azure blue eyes, noting it as quite stunning, then his thin eyebrows to his angular face. Moving her own emerald green eyes down, she took notice of the wrinkles on his gray middle-long woolen trench coat. She instantly noticed how sweaty it made him, especially given the dark blue scarf he was wearing around his neck. She did have to give him credit for the white shirt she saw with the logo "Palace" on it in black letters (which, unsurprisingly, was placed over a palace design)- it was cool, she had to admit, and it told her he didn't have his trench coat buttoned up.

"Huh? What? Hey, wait a second here…" The gray-haired man stared upon Mayari, then blinked and looked over to Silvana. It took only a few seconds before he threw his hands over his head, screaming, "Who are you guys?! And… and… wait, what the-?! WHERE AM I?!"

Silvana flinched at the man's screaming, and Mayari quickly took the initiative. She stepped forward to the man and grabbed his shoulders. "Hey, hey, calm down here! We're just as confused as you are. And, well, about who we are, I'm Mayari, and that's Silvana over there."

Mayari gestured over to the sin eater. Silvana looked unsure of whether to wave or nod her head. She was only blinking in utter confusion and worry.

 _Well, that's fine though._ The raven then focused her attention back to the man. "We're both Ultimates as well. I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist, and she's the Ultimate Sin Eater. Who are you?"

The man in the wrinkled up blankets blinked for a moment. It took roughly three seconds before a wide smile popped up on his face. "Oh! You're both Ultimates? Cool!"

Without a second to waste, the man flipped off from his bed, easily twisting his body and landing on the dusty floor. A few coughs escaped afterwards, but the man easily positioned himself straight as he dusted a few specks of dirt and grime from his black ripped jeans and brown hiking boots. "Sorry for before. I thought you guys were after my head or something."

Mayari laughed. "Nah, don't worry about it. Were you running away from somebody or something?"

"Last time I've been doing something, dinosaurs were chasing after me! We were running, almost as if this were a childish game of cops and robbers!" The man let out a hearty laugh. Then, noticing the bafflement on Mayari and Silvana's faces, he quickly spun around and winked. "Ah, blasphemy! Apologies, I haven't introduced myself! Please refrain from moving much at this moment then, for I shall introduce myself quickly."

Before anything else could be said, Mazen threw his arms out. Another exaggerated laugh escaped his throat as he grinned widely, showing off his pearly teeth.

"Ahem! Listen up here, ladies and- ah, it's only you two ladies. Nevermind. Anyways, it is I, the prodigy of time everlasting, the enigma of history itself! I am Mazen Ola, your one and only Ultimate Time Traveler, right here in front of your very eyes! Lo and behold!"

* * *

 **Mazen Ola**

 **Ultimate Time Traveler**

* * *

 _Wait, am I hearing that correctly? No, there's no way. He's definitely pulling my leg._ But, before Mayari could force back those words down her throat, she found herself nervously laughing and asking, "A-are you sure that's your talent?"

"Of course! I am not prone to telling white lies, only the truth. I don't want to rewrite my own history, after all. Here, let me show you…" Mazen pointed a finger up, then began digging into his pockets. One, two, three. "Huh? Okay, strange… my pocket watch isn't here…" Immense worry began to escape his face- his beige color fading as quickly as possible. It took three seconds before he shrugged, nervously laughing as he looked back at Mayari. "Well, lo and behold, it seems like history does not want me to show the past quite an extraordinary device so soon! Please forgive me for that."

"Ah… yeah, sure." Mayari threw a look to Silvana for help. The sin eater only blinked in complete and utter lost. It seemed like the epidemiologist was left to defend herself. "Well, if you're a time traveler, can you tell us why we're trapped in this weird place?"

"Right. I have forgotten that silly little detail." Mazen took a look around, frowning upon his surroundings. A few seconds passed before he laughed, then happily answered, "I am afraid I have not familiarized myself with this place. All I can conclude is that we're in some abandoned hospital."

 _Hmm, no shit._ Mayari then furrowed her brows, staring at Mazen. "Well, do you remember anything before you woke up here? If you've been kidnapped, or if you came here of your own will? Anything that can link us to why we're here."

Mazen's composure loosened. He cupped his chin, now thinking for a moment. "Hmm… sadly, I don't seem to remember anything. All I remember is using my pocket watch to time travel, and then I blacked out and ended up meeting you two."

Silvana slowly stepped forward, her direction, however, turned to Mayari. "Uh, I think no one's going to be able to remember anything. It sounds like we've been kidnapped."

"Yeah, unfortunately." Mayari scratched her head, a sigh escaping her lips. She then smiled over at Mazen. "We think there's more people here, so we've been going out to look for the others. You're the first one we saw."

"I feel special then." Mazen grinned, winking with one of his azure blue eyes. "Ah, but if you don't mind, I want to accompany you. This place looks quite frightening, and I think it's best if we stick together than to separate and look around aimlessly."

"That makes sense," Silvana answered politely, nodding her head. "It will be hard to keep track of people if we all separate… uh, I would think so, at least."

Mayari chuckled. "Yeah, it makes sense, don't worry." She then pumped a fist up. "Alright then, even though we've all just met here, let's form a team and get going! I'm sure we'll find more people along the way."

"Woah, this sounds like some grandiose adventure!" Mazen clapped his hands together, a childish look of excitement sparkling in his eyes. "I'm more than excited to help you two out then!"

Silvana eyed Mazen worriedly, then pursed her lips. She quickly looked away and asked, "Uh, I wonder if we'll find the person who's brought us here though?"

"That's worrying." Mayari noted the worry on Silvana's pale white face, then the slight anxiety in Mazen's own face. She frowned inwardly to herself- she couldn't allow them to look so scared. She quickly collided with her fists into each other, declaring, "Well, if that person's a criminal or some dangerous guy, I'm going to beat them up, so don't worry!"

Silvana and Mazen blinked for a while, but those expressions eventually relaxed. Those smiles told Mayari everything, and she knew they were comfortable around her.

 _Exaggerations hurt me. I'm losing my voice already… Ahem, anywho, then let's going._ Mayari advanced forward to open the door, and the duo walked out. The raven took another look at the room, just in case, but noticing nothing out of the ordinary (or what was considered 'ordinary' in this setting's standard), she left and closed the door behind her.

As always, the smell of dust and old wood muffled Mayari's train of thought. The epidemiologist wanted to cling to somebody to get rid of the smell, or, at least, wear a flu mask. Emerald green eyes glanced to her companions- they seemed bothered by the smell as well, if not slightly with their scrunched noses and parched lips.

Well, Mayari should've known the smell was inevitable. Given her surroundings, especially the dirt and grime and cobwebs around the area, it was expected she would smell nothing but old architecture and mud. The idea of smelling poppy flowers or anything citrus was blasphemy.

 _Though I wouldn't mind the smell of poppy flowers. I always went to the garden to smell those with my family._ Mayari suddenly found herself bothered- now that she had a clearer head (or she would hope so), she recalled her family. She wondered if they were worried about her, and she was worried she wouldn't be around them anytime soon. _Oh, god, don't think about that. At worst they'll call the police and scream at me when I'm back. We're definitely getting out of this horrendous place, and then I can get home and laugh with my family about it… Lola would be hollering right now if I told her what had happened._

Mayari sighed, opening the next door. Like she expected, it was another hospital bed, and hospital room. It wasn't anything special, and what the epidemiologist was most bothered by was the lack of people inside the room. It was a dead end.

 _Geez…_ But Mayari had to keep up a happy front, grinning at Silvana and Mazen. "I'm sure someone's gonna be in the next room."

Silvana brushed back her locks of silvery-brown hair, timid as she nodded with a soft yet demure, "Hopefully."

Mayari took her step forward. The door was near in sight, and Mazen whistled a happy tune as they marched their way forward. Mayari stood in front of the door, and, taking a small breath of air, promptly pushed the door to an opening-

-which wasn't needed, for Mayari's hand reached out for nothing and she fell straight to a stranger's body.

"Oof!"

"Woah!" Mazen jumped backwards in shock. "Quite an abrupt ending!"

Silvana's voice cried out in worry, "A-are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" Mayari laughed, feeling her pounding head. _Shit, that might be a bruise coming._ She didn't comment on that though, her attention more focused on who she had fallen onto. Seeing the person below her looking pained and baffled, immediate worry escaped her face. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd open the door. Ah, uh, are you alright?"

"Nn…"

In front of Mayari was a young boy with a fragile and bony body, only a little bit of muscle scattered here and there on his pale features. His thin lips produced a soft noise, more of a confused mewl, not out of pain. It was out of confusion, and his eyes fluttered open to showcase his bloodshot little icy blue eyes. Dark crimson hair bobbed to his movements, and his eyes were staring into Mayari's. A few seconds passed, and then-

"Aah, I'm sorry!" the boy squealed, shocked more than anything else. His hands were waving about wildly, whiffing at the air. "I didn't know you were going to open the door! Er, uh, Miss, were you scared?"

"Uh, no, I'm fine!" Mayari quickly bit into her lip, ignoring the lingering pain in her forehead. The crimson-haired boy looked young, and the epidemiologist knew better than to worry him with her pain. "Rather, are you alright?"

"Huh? Of course I am!" The messy-haired boy giggled, unfazed. "Why are you asking, erm, Miss…?"

The epidemiologist blinked, slowly rolling off the boy. She easily rolled and flexed her fingers, kicking herself up to her feet. "Ahem, Mayari."

"Aah, Mayari is such a pretty name!" The boy hopped to his feet easily, contrasting the young woman who was rubbing her forehead. "Hehe, erm, i-is it alright if I call you Big Sis Mayari?"

"Big Sis…?" Blinking her eyes for a few seconds here and there. She thought for a second, then sighed. _He is younger than me, and awfully polite. Hmm, don't want to make him sad if I say no._ Mayari smiled. "Of course! Feel free to call me whatever you want. What's your name?"

The boy smiled widely. "Hehe, my name is Kenichi Sato, b-but please call me Keni!" He began to toy with his loose sleeves, flapping them about. "I'm a clinical research participant! Ultimate!"

* * *

 **Kenichi 'Keni' Sato**

 **Ultimate Clinical Research Participant**

* * *

Eyes squinted. Although she knew it would make the young boy worry, she couldn't help herself but to gasp. _Clinical research participant? And at this young age? Hm… now that I think about it, he does look like a 'subject' in terms of looks and color._

Keni was a young, crimson-haired boy who wore nothing but a set of pajamas, patterned with blue and navy stripes against a base white color. With long sleeves that could've hid his tiny hands but weren't (in fact, they were rolled back to expose his wrists, even if slightly), the boy was also wearing a fluffy gray dressing gown. What was most noticeable about his clothing was a badge present on the gown, the logo of a 'Chisiki Medical Institute' in the left corner- two linked hands and what seemed to be a Latin phrase scrawled underneath the hands. A set of fluffy light gray slippers kept his feet warm, depicted in the style of dogs with small ears flopping out from the tops.

Well, in short, Kenichi definitely seemed like the type of person as his talent described him. Even if it was worrying to Mayari, the smile on his face made her only smile in return (even when she noticed the complex looking watch strapped over his right wrist, and especially the bandages and plasters around his body). Even when she could describe him as rather cute and innocent, the stickers and badges of rather childish creatures all over his body, she worried nonetheless.

Why was he a clinical research participant? Why would people research on children?

 _Better not be anything bad, or else their face will meet my face._ She chuckled dryly to herself, then looked into Keni's sparkling ice blue eyes. "Soooooo…" She wasn't sure how to word herself. "Whatcha doin' as one anyways?"

Of course, the boy tilted his head to the side. "Hm? Ah, what do you mean by that, Big Sis?"

"As a research participant," she answered, correcting herself with a cough. "What do you do as one?"

"O-oh! So that's what you mean!" Keni clapped his hands together, giggling softly. He bounced in place before noticing the people behind Mayari. The redhead blinked. "Ah, h-how rude of me! Can I get your talent as well, Big Sis Mayari-chan? And your friends as well, please!"

 _Right, right._ Mayari grinned, making a playful gesture by bowing her head down, lowering her voice and speaking, slurred, "I am the Ultimate Epidemiologist! Any diseases you want destroyed, come to moi!"

Silence followed.

 _Aw shit. I know Silvana seems like a stick in the mud, but even Mazen and you too, Keni?_ Mayari wanted to faceplant to the ground.

"Ah… anyways, my apologies for not introducing myself earlier." Silvana stepped forward and nervously fiddled with her dress. "I'm Silvana Bellandi, Ultimate Sin Eater. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Immediately after her, Mazen jumped into the mix, pointing happily to himself, chin held high. "And I am Mazen Ola, the time lord of this universe itself! Ah, but people prefer to call me the Ultimate Time Traveler, if you're curious."

"Time Traveler? Sin Eater?" Keni's eyes began sparkling with immediate childlike curiosity. His sleeves flapped around excitedly as he bounced up and down, cheeks risen and nose sniffling. "T-that's so cool, Mazen-san and Silvana-chan! It's like you guys came out of a fairy tale! I… I really love fairy tales!"

"F-fairy tale?" Silvana was caught off guard, her general solemn expression slightly changing in shock with wider eyes. "I don't think… I don't think I look like I'm from a fairy tale, Kenichi."

"Ah, please, call me Keni!" The research participant giggled. "Y-you really do look like you came from a fairytale though, Big Sis! You're just so pretty!"

"A-am I now?" Silvana's pale face turned pink within an instant. "I… that's very thoughtful of you, Keni."

Mazen immediately grinned upon noticing Silvana and Keni speak. He turned to Mayari and chuckled, throwing his hands back. "He seems like a nice kid. Why's he even here?"

"I'm trying to figure that out myself," the woman was left answering, tilting her head to the side. _Hmm… but being a clinical research participant…_ Mayari pursed her lips. "Keni, do you know why we're here?"

"Ah?" Interrupted by the epidemiologist, he glanced up at her and tilted his head. A few seconds passed before he shook his head, blue eyes solemn. "Er, I'm sorry, but I don't know! Maybe we're in some type of mystery game or something? Ah! Or maybe an adventure! Ah… I see. It's like hide and seek!"

Mazen only laughed nervously. It was obvious he didn't believe it (even when he tried to speak of such an idea before). "Um… maybe! Sounds like something I'll happily take you on."

"Mhm." Silvana bobbed her head in return.

"Um?" The research participant only stared at the group in bafflement.

"Then again, maybe we really are in one?" The time traveler immediately began to theorize, taking on a more playful tone. "As the Time Lord of this universe, I believe that could be the case! An ultimate grandiose adventure of some sort!" He twirled in place and threw his arms out. "Yes! That'd be fun!"

Keni's eyes sparkled. He bounced and flapped his sleeves up and down, fluffy red hair bobbing. "I-it would be! I wanna play!"

"Yeah?" Mazen's pearly white teeth immediately shined. "Great! Then how about we search this treasure cove together, Keni? You could be in the middle of solving the world's greatest riddle, after all!"

"Mhm, yeah!" Keni bounced more and stopped. "Oh! Let me get Kiki though!"

Before the group could say anything, the boy ran into his room and pulled out a stuffed light brown cat who had her arm placed in a tiny sling and a bandage around her neck rather than a collar for further interest. It was a rather cute cat, Keni immediately nuzzling himself against it as he skipped out of the room.

"T-this is Kiki!" The research participant held the stuffed toy out. He grabbed her arm and moved it up and down in a greeting motion. "Kiki says hi to you, Big Bro and Big Sisters!"

Silvana was caught off-guard, eyes fluttering a few times before she managed to speak a simple, "Hello."

Mazen wasn't caught off-guard in return, waving happily at the stuffed toy. "Hello there, Kiki! It is a pleasure to meet my friend's sacred sidekick!"

Mayari didn't speak, only chuckling at the sight of Keni hugging Kiki in his arms. It made her wonder if Keni could be a little brother to her. Certainly, seemed like so. Her status as the youngest sibling between her and her brother would be tarnished, and she'd laugh over claiming Keni as her new brother.

 _Not that I'd kidnap him though._ She slapped herself mentally in the head, then folded her arms and stared at the group. "Anyways, since you found Kiki and everything, we should search for an exit here. I reaaaally want to go home and eat dinner right now."

"Ah, Mayari is right." Silvana sighed. She rubbed her fingers about. "I would… like to go home too."

"I'm pretty sure everyone does," Mazen mused, scratching the back of his head. His narrow blue eyes were staring at Mayari with an awkward smile. "I'd love to look around here and find the sacred treasure, but going home is also first priority!"

Mayari smiled, nodding her head. She then frowned, looking at Keni. Watching the boy toying with his plushie, she nodded to herself again and glanced back to Silvana and Mazen. "How about you two stay here and keep Keni occupied? It could be, hm, y'know, a bit dangerous out here."

"Wait, but Mayari." Silvana slightly furrowed her brows. "Excuse me… uh, you'd be left alone if we stay back with Keni."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Mayari immediately threw the taller woman a wide smile, saluting her. She looked down at Keni and chuckled. "Big Sis will be riiiight back, alright? You can hang out here with Silvana and Mazen. Just think of them as your older siblings, maybe even your parents? Yeah, whatever works!"

"That… that sounds like fun!" Keni nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down with Kiki. "Big Sis Silvana and Big Bro Mazen!"

"A-ah, well…" The sin eater was worried for Mayari, but shook her head. Hesitation was clear on her face. "If you say so."

"Great!" The epidemiologist clapped her hands together. "You three can go search the area together. I'm planning on going further into this place to find the entrance, or at least for more people."

Mazen just smiled in return. "Sounds like a plan then."

"Yup, so with that settled, I should take my leave then." Mayari took a step back, moving closer away from the door and straight into the hallway. A few more steps were taken as she threw finger guns at the group, waving goodbye before turning around and walking into the hallway.

Now walking further into the hallway, she saw how the rooms looked similar to the ones she and Silvana were in. Of course, with this in mind, she decided to ignore the idea of inspecting the rooms, especially when she saw that the hallway was nearing an end and there was a glass door that led her to the lobby.

Excitement washing over her and she immediately went over to the glass door, prying it open with her hands. It sadly wasn't automatic, but it was to be expected. It was a cost of a few seconds of her life, but that was fine. She sighed and walked inside, clicking her heels against the floor.

As always, cobwebs and dirt messied the room up. It would've been a rather pretty lobby, couches and sofas a pretty white to pastel blue with glass tables and recessed troffers hanging up. Sadly, it was already messy and similar to how Mayari saw her room. Even then, the one thing that caught her attention were the two people inside of the room, arguing.

"I know you're trying to get me to punch you or some fucking sadistic shit, but I won't do it! Just apologize to me already! It's obviously your fucking fault!"

"Oh, my fault? It's not my fault you tripped over my foot. I was just _somehow_ close to where you were walking, that's all."

It was a woman and a man, the woman yelling angrily at the man who was obviously smirking at her, speaking sarcastically.

The medium-light tanned woman had chocolate colored hair, wavy and curly, reaching down to her back. Standing surprisingly tall for a woman, her eyes were a piercing gold, almost orange as she glared at the man's charming blue eyes. Her fists were clenched, almost shark-like teeth grinding down her scarred lips as her body shook.

Wearing a black jacket with torn off sleeves, the white crop topped woman was stepping closer and closer to the man, glaring down at him. Her black ripped jeans with tight around her physique, a brown and gold belt holding them in place. The soles on her expensive-looking black and white sneakers clicked against the floor, and her fists were finally released as she threw the man the middle finger, golden rings on her right and left index fingers. "Fuck off."

"Okay, sweetheart, you _really_ love acting like you're some queen bee, huh?"

Chuckling in front of the taller woman, the man was rather charming, a strong jawline and elegant indigo hair and charming blue eyes modeling his body. Fair and scarless face, the man was rather thin, healthy. Wearing nothing more than a dark red shirt with a yellow symbol of psychology on the chest (Mayari smirked, seemed like she had an idea of what he was), a dark purple blazer with a leathery finish and collar was on the top. A red scarf did define him well however, torn and beaten at the back, contrasting the dress pants and shoes that were colored elegantly and similarly to his blazer. If not the scarf, then it were the fingerless gloves with chains wrapped around the arms that connected to them… and if not that, then the fedora that was colored similarly to his dress clothes.

He was smirking up at the woman, wiggling his brows in a teasing manner. That creepy smile that Mayari saw upon initial gaze was still there, almost plastered on his face. The man didn't seem to recognize Mayari, nor did the angry woman either. Instead, he merely clapped his hands together, chains rattling as he swung a pointer finger at the brunette. "Why don't you stop acting like you're better than me and actually try to hit me? Huh? Huh~?"

"I am not going to waste my energy on a fucking piece of shit like you!" the woman growled, stepping forward. "I just don't understand why you have the luxury to just trip people!"

"Oh, that's obvious!" The man cackled. His smile instantly widened. "It's because I wanted to see your reaction, duh!"

"Oh, really now?" Her lips curled into a grim smirk. She immediately stepped forward and grabbed at the man's shirt, pulling him closer to her, inches away, face to face. "Say that to my face again, I dare you."

 _Oh geez, better calm them down._ Mayari stomped her feet. She waited as their faces were turned to her, finally garnering their attention. She threw them a wide, friendly grin. "Yo! Are you two stuck in this place too?"

"Who the fuck."

The woman's grip on the man loosened, easily causing the man to readjust himself and grin. He bounced over to Mayari and kneeled down to her height, down on his knees in a squatting position. "Woah, it's a little girl! Whatcha doing here, huh?"

Fingers began to flex. She heaved in a deep breath. _No, keep your cool. If you don't, you'll end up knocking that pretty face out._ Dark green eyes sparkled as she forced out a giggle, responding with a light tone, "I'm Mayari Liu, Ultimate Epidemiologist. I'm assuming everyone here are Ultimates, so that's why I said it. Uh, so… How about you two?"

"Oh?" The man blinked, fluttering his long eyelashes. "Everyone here? There's more people other than you and that crazy lady there?"

"I am not crazy, you fuck!"

Mayari had to shut down the sarcasm that was beginning to escape her breath. "Yeah, I met three other people here and they were all Ultimates." She pointed to the glass door. "They're just down that hallway."

"Thank the fucking god." The brunette rolled her eyes, head turned back. "I thought I was done for, being stuck with this son of a bitch."

"Aww, that's real cruel of you." But he was cackling, uncaring. He grinned as he looked back at Mayari, then threw a hand over her and patted her. "Well, nice to meet you, Mayari~"

Mayari just slapped his hand away. "Yeah, yeah. Who are you guys?"

Before the man could speak, the brunette stepped forward, clicking her shoes against the floor. "Hotaru Nakamura, Ultimate Stuntwoman. As long as you're not somebody like that weirdo I won't kill you."

* * *

 **Hotaru Nakamura**

 **Ultimate Stuntwoman**

* * *

 _Well, ain't that friendly?_ Mayari chuckled lightly to herself, then turned to the man who finally went back up to his original, normal position. "And you?"

"Oh, me?" The man stared at Mayari for a second, blue eyes observing her. He then grinned, creepy in his expression. "I'm the villain to not only your life, but everybody's lives: Nobuyuki Kawaguchi! Pleasure to meet you."

 _Haha, right._ Mayari cocked her head to the side, arms folded. "And your talent? If I had a guess, it's the Ultimate Psychologist, right?"

"Woah, are you some kind of psychic?" He feigned shock, eyes wide. Hands were cupping his cheeks. "I wonder how you figured it out? Was it magic? Huh? Huuuuuuuh?"

* * *

 **Nobuyuki Kawaguchi**

 **Ultimate Psychologist**

* * *

"I wonder that myself," the tiny woman mused, dead in her expression. She couldn't help but snort, raising a brow at Nobuyuki. "I'm assuming you have a kick for ruining people's day, right?"

"Yup, he does, he does," Hotaru chirped, clapping her hands rather obnoxiously. "Someone should castrate that bitch!"

"Woah, honeys, let's not go _that_ far." Nobuyuki threw his hands over the back of his head. He seemed uncaring, unbothered. "I don't have a kick for ruining people's day, I have the utter heeby jeebys for it!"

"Y-you… what?" Mayari was caught off guard, blinking. She couldn't register what the man had said, brain dead. "H-heeby jeebys?"

"Whaaat? You haven't heard of that?" Nobuyuki smirked. "You're a sad, pathetic person, Mayari. How have you not heard of that? Are you a sheltered little girl? A rich, spoiled brat?"

The epidemiologist frowned. "No, I'm not, but thanks for asking."

"No problem, whippersnapper!" He chirped, applauding the woman with his fingerless gloved applause. "Anything for my wittle Mayaaaaa~!"

"Can… can you not?" The epidemiologist squinted at the man, feeling adrenaline going through her body. "Just… help me out here. Do any of you guys know why we're here? This place has obviously been abandoned."

"Oh, that?" Hotaru crossed her arms, pulling back locks of curly hair. "No fucking idea, and I don't really care. I just want to find the exit and fucking dash for it."

"I'm pretty sure everyone wants to find a way out," Mayari answered, smiling awkwardly. "Have you guys been here the entire time?"

The taller woman nodded. "Yup, I was gonna leave but this guy decided to trip me, and here we are now."

Nobuyuki coughed. "Seems legit, my totally fair maiden."

Hotaru laughed happily, "Haha, yup, now shut the fuck up!"

"Oh, geez, that's… yeah." Impending doom. She knew it was coming, and so Mayari forced a wide smile. "You guys are funny! But, er, can we calm down-"

"Nooooope, not calming down!" Nobuyuki began cackling, jumping up and down childishly. "Remember? It's fun to mess with people, and now that I have two subjects here, I have all the time in the world to mess around and have fun~"

"Really?" Hotaru immediately began to crack her knuckles, fists clenched. "Come here and say it to my face, why don't you? You want to fuck with me, right?"

The psychologist gasped. "Whaaaat? Fuck with you? Oh heavens, no, you are too ugly to fuck. Why would someone so sweet and tender like me even think about that anyways?"

"You already implied it!" She stepped forward. "Now come here and meet my fucking fists!"

Before Mayari could say anything (or get mad, honestly), Nobuyuki began running off into the distance, moving straight for the glass door behind the epidemiologist. He swung it open and began dashing off, causing Hotaru to scream out in an almost predatory like manner before charging.

Away and away they go.

Only one thing was on her mind at the moment:

"What the fuck?"

* * *

And there you have it! Here are the first five introductions for this story. What do you think of everyone so far? And, to further that, how did I (if any of these characters are yours) portray yours? I would love to get feedback. I don't want to mess anything up, after all!

Anyways, I really do not have much to say at the moment, so have a good day! I'll hit you all back with another introduction, hopefully sooner than later. I promise you to make it as fun and detailed as this one though, that's all I can say!


	4. Crescendo (Prologue)

Hello, I am finally back with another chapter! Of course, this is only about intros and whatnot since we're still at the start of the story, but hey, intros are good and fun, haha. This took like what, a month? Oh well, at least I'm back! Anyways, I really don't have much to say, sooooo let's get on with it!

 **Sharkeye:** "EXTERMINATE."

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera:** "Mayari is such a spunky baby, I love her! Silvana deserves all the love in the world, make her happy! Ooh, Mazen being like Gundham, interesting! We need to protect Keni, make him happy! Hotaru is my baby, I love her so much! Of course Nobuyuki is a troll, haha. Awww, thanks!"

 **Prince PokePersona:** "Yoooo! Haha, nice. Beta reading is fun, yes! Plus, plus, plus! Silvana is very cute, don't hurt her! She's definitely a sweet person in contrast to other characters here, haha. Rose makes amazing OCs! We love Rose. Mazen is an eccentric boy, I love him as well. Haha, such a mood, Mazen's so sweet. Yes, yes, makes you wonder. I wonder myself. Keni is a beanie babey boi, we all love him! He deserves all the love in the world, protect him from evil! Hotaru is a great character, I love her so much haha. Yes, isn't Nobuyuki amazing? Makes you want to punch him, lol. Kokichi is our rat baby, I turn him into a rat. Just put Kokichi's head on a rat, yes. Rivals! Hehe, thanks!"

 **mpjindustries:** "Oh my gosh, you reviewed an hour before I was gonna post, wtf. Haha, yes, isn't that amazing? I like spoiling people, kinda. Mayari is a sweet baby who will kick ass, don't test her. Silvana's sweet too haha, you need to protect her. Please protect her. Mazen's the Time Lord! Mwahahahaha! Keni is our story's adorable bean. Beans always suffer in Danganronpa, what a shame ): Kiki! Hotaru's a hot-tempered girl, but I still love her, of course. Haha. Nobuyuki is a hottie oho. Lmaooo, I don't even remember if you DMed me to have his clothes changed, but oh well. Oh my. Haha, yee!"

* * *

 **BIG THANKS TO OUR BETA READER: Lupus Overkill!**

* * *

Mayari Liu wasn't exactly the most calm type of person in these types of situations. However, seeing Hotaru and Nobuyuki running off into the distance, away to the direction of her peers, she had a hunch that her life was going to be chaotic.

 _Great, but let's think positive here! Maybe it's just those two who are crazy._ She spun a few thoughts inside her head. Around and around and around, and she sighed, giving up. _Nope, everyone's crazy somehow, trait or talent._

She even had to wonder if she herself was crazy. Was she? Pulling back her braided hair, the green-eyed woman thought to herself. She contemplated, but said nothing. That obviously didn't matter. If the goal in her head was not good enough, then it was certainly the smell of worn down tiles and dirt that brought her back to reality.

Right, she had to find the exit.

Somehow, the momentum and motivation she had was lessening more and more as time went on. Was it because of her own energy decreasing, a daily intake? Was it because of Hotaru and Nobuyuki? Honestly, the answer could be anything.

 _Ugh, whatever. Just forget it._ Mayari kicked the ground with a dismayed sigh, then hopped off the room, moving across the area to open the next glass door that awaited her.

Once she slid the door opened, the woman found herself in, yet again, another hallway. Similarly to the last one, this hallway was rather dim and worn down, cobwebs and dirt and grime scattering all over the area. However, a stark contrast to from here to the last place were the lack of rooms around the area, only a few tattered couches, empty vases on top of round tables, and worn down paintings of various things around the area. Similar to a master hallway? She wasn't exactly sure.

She can either turn to the right where the closest entrance was, or turn left and see what was in store for her. Then again, there were a few doors she could enter and look into, see what was around. Plenty of options, definitely.

Mayari thought to herself for a few seconds, though snapped out of her head once she heard footsteps in the near distance. Ears perked and heart beating, she immediately ran left and straight down the hallway.

Running down with her heels clicking against the floor, the epidemiologist noticed a person who was looking around the area, examining the place. They were a young woman, someone Mayari assumed was only two or so inches above her, walking down the hallway. The epidemiologist's eyes sparkled as she began waving her arms about, crying out:

"Hey!"

The young woman's attention was caught, her head turning around. From there, Mayari noticed the girl's somewhat long dark blue hair, the left side of her face covered by her bangs. With pale skin and a rather average build, Mayari's focus was on the girl's round dark blue eyes, similar to the color of her hair. A baby face, the epidemiologist also noted, nodding to herself as she came to a stop. That baby face had a painted soft smile over it, Mayari's perkiness still kept intact.

Observing her further, the girl was wearing a black button-up dress shirt that was tucked neatly into her pants. She was also wearing a leather belt with a steel buckle in the shape of a circle, keeping her brown formal trousers in place. At the bottom were her white socks and black flats. But, what was most noticeable about her, however, was the miniature blue fez that had a cute black tassel at the top of her head, slightly off the center.

Mayari honestly expected the woman to wave at her, but instead, a harsh glare was thrown at her side. Caught off guard now, the epidemiologist was left stuttering as she spoke, "Er, h-hey there! Um… I'm Mayari Liu, and I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist! How about you?"

Immediately did the blue-haired girl scowl. "Why should I tell you?"

The raven immediately groaned in return. "Because you're probably as lost as I am here? I'm going to make an educated guess and say you're an Ultimate, right? Everyone else I met were all Ultimates just like me."

"What?" She squinted. "Like…?"

"Ultimate Sin Eater, Time Traveler, Clinical Research Participant, Psychologist, Stuntwoman?" Mayari tilted her head to the side, slightly arching a brow up. "Should I give you their names? Both first and last names?"

"That's…" Averting her gaze to the ground, it took a few seconds before the girl spoke up again, shaking her head. "Fine. I'm Mikoto Ikitai, Ultimate Picture Book Author. Happy?"

* * *

 **Mikoto Ikitai**

 **Ultimate Picture Book Author**

* * *

Mayari smiled, clapping her hands together. "Yup, peachy peachy!" She giggled, bouncing in place. "So, you're a picture book author? That's cute! You write picture books for kids, right?"

Mikoto grumbled. "... Of course I do. Is that all? Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Not possible! We're both looking for a way out of here, right?" Her expression became solemn again. "We have no idea where we are or how we even got here, so I think it's best we work together and try to figure out a solution…" She forced a smile. "Oooooorrrr just find the exit and make a run for it."

"I'd rather work alone," the author immediately answered, shutting Mayari down. "You don't even know me that well."

"No one knows anyone here that well," the shorter woman retorted, grinning dryly. "Like you and me."

"You sure about that?" Mikoto scowled. "People can easily lie to you. You're not some sort of lie detector anyways."

"It's better to trust people than to not." Mayari knew she was getting nowhere with the author, so she sighed and shook her head. "Anyways, that out of the way, I guess you were just exploring the area? Did you find anything special yet?"

A few seconds passed between them. Mikoto silently toyed with her bangs before speaking, curling most of her hair with her hands. "Nothing. I woke up a few minutes ago and decided to walk around before you showed up."

"... So everyone here just woke up." Eyebrows furrowed. "Do you remember anything before you woke up here? If you were kidnapped or if anything suspicious happened?"

The picture book author only scoffed, that dark blue visible eye staring Mayari down. "Of course I don't remember anything. Can you just get away from me already? You're so annoying."

Before Mayari could utter a word, footsteps rapidly approached from behind, then a voice.

"Excuse me, but could you two kind maidens please show me the exit?!"

Right behind them, Mayari noticed a tall man heading towards them, his height not even comparable to Hotaru's. In fact, he was taller, standing almost a half of a foot that added to the stuntwoman's height. If it weren't for that, then Mayari definitely would've called this man Hercules- his built was that of a broad shouldered Hercules, fair skin.

But, what was most important to note was that he was dressed akin to a knight, wearing loose fitting black jeans, dirty brown steel toe boots ca black cuirass that had a beautiful, intricate vine-like design, brass griffin in the center. The fingerless gauntlets he was wearing with bass studs on the knuckles, the brass detailing on the armet styled black helmet he was wearing, hiding his square face yet detailing the soft red narrow eyes of his and hiding the wavy long dark green hair that swished about to his movements in a ponytail… this man definitely befitted the title of a knight.

And if that wasn't enough, Mikoto's words expressed everything:

"The hell is a cosplayer doing here?"

"Ah, cosplayer?" The man's loud voice echoed throughout the hallway. Red eyes stared from Mikoto to Mayari, and, without warning, he immediately fell into a hearty laugh. "HAHAHA! Have no fear! I am not a cosplayer, but a protector of the innocent and hero of justice!"

The picture book author only scowled in response, disgust in her voice. "Oh god, you _are_ a cosplayer."

"Pfft, ignore her." Mayari brushed Mikoto off to the side, but the snort in her tone told everyone otherwise. She just grinned amusingly at the man before holding her hand out. "Mayari Liu, Ultimate Epidemiologist. You?"

"Oh, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance!" The man shook her hand excitedly, grinning widely with raised cheeks. "As I mentioned before, I am a protector of the innocent and a hero of justice! Please, call me Shura the Protector! Full and formal name: Shura Kuznetsov, the Ultimate Armourer!"

* * *

 **Shura Kuznetsov**

 **Ultimate Armourer**

* * *

The picture book author cocked her head to the side. "Huh, thought you would've said you were a knight or something."

He immediately heaved a hearty laugh. "Not a surprise at all, lady…?"

The blue-haired maiden only glared in response, leaving Mayari to cough and answer, "Mikoto Ikitai, Ultimate Picture Book Author."

"Ah, Lady Mikoto then." He grinned widely, hands to his hips. "Lovely name, O Noble Mikoto! Mayari is such a pretty name as well! I am glad this world has blessed you two fair maidens with such beautiful names! Heavens be blessed! HAHAHA!"

Mayari grinned at him, though it was rather dry. "Right." She coughed. "Anyways, you said you were looking for an exit?"

The green-haired man nodded dramatically, up and down. "Ah, yes! I woke up in this dirty reception room and ran around to look for an exit, but I found none! It was then did I come here and find you two! I was hoping you two knew the way to an exit, everyone else didn't."

"Everyone else?" The epidemiologist's interest was piqued. "Who, exactly? They're all Ultimates like us, right?"

"Yeah!" His eyes sparkled without a struggle. He bounced up and down in excitement, his armour clinking and gauntlets hitting them in the meantime. "Lovely sirs and maidens, if I do say so myself!"

 _Oh? Guess he hasn't met Hotaru or Nobuyuki yet._ Mayari chuckled bitterly to herself, lips curling into a slight smirk. She cocked her head to the side and continued nonetheless, humming, "Really? Like who?"

"There are plenty!" He clapped his hands above his head. "I met this very fair lady by the name Elodie. She and her acquaintance who went by the lovely name of Akira. They are lovely people, fair citizens who stand by our world's morals against good and evil! HAHAHA!"

Mayari saw the flinch that Mikoto unintentionally made, and honestly she couldn't blame her. This man was loud, boisterous in a way that even Nobuyuki wasn't. Not to say she would prefer the psychologist over this man- she definitely wouldn't live past thirty or so minutes with a troll like Nobuyuki. "What're they like though? I'd love to meet them!"

"They are lovely!" Shura grinned widely, standing tall and proud with his hands to the side of his hips. His green locks of hair were swaying to and fro. "Hahaha! As a protector of justice itself, I am confident in telling you those two fair sirs and ladies are not to be feared! No evil has befallen upon them, I assure you, Lady Mayari!"

"Oh, really?" Mayari honestly had to wonder why Shura was blessed with these supposed deities and she was cursed with the demons. It wasn't fair she had to encounter the chaos that was Hotaru and Nobuyuki, right? Then again, Shura did meet Mikoto here, and honestly, the author was judging him more than she was to Mayari (much to her relief). This led the light brown woman to just sigh, chuckling to herself. "Well, sounds like there's definitely more of us here then. Wonder how many of us are trapped here?"

"We are entangled in this dire situation? How dastardly!" Shura's eyes looked like they were going to pop out within seconds of his shriek. "We must seek the exit! It should come forth to us! We just need to search!"

"Ugh." Mikoto groaned. "I don't really care. You do what you do. I'm leaving."

Mayari rolled her eyes, seeing the author turning around and walking off. She couldn't help but scoff dryly, instincts getting the best of her as she cupped her hands around her mouth and cried, "Good luck dying!"

Mikoto said nothing, only quickening her pace as she left. It didn't take long before she turned into nothing more than an ant in the epidemiologist's line of sight.

Shura, however, definitely had something to say, especially when taking in the look of utter shock and betrayal on his face. "By the GODS!" That screech in the last word made her flinch. "Why would you curse such defile words to the sweet, young lady? That is most frankly insulting!"

"Eh, don't care." The woman just shrugged. Frankly speaking, she didn't- why would she care about someone who clearly doesn't like her? Mikoto disliked her the moment she arrived, so why should she care about playing nice? It didn't matter to Mayari, the woman's eyes peering up at the green-haired man. "Don't worry about it, really."

"But…" Shura's posture slowly became rigid, small. "It isn't really nice."

 _And why exactly should I care?_ Mayari just smirked in response. "Reality's harsh, aha."

The armourer frowned. "That doesn't mean you should say that…"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Mayari waved him off, inwardly rolling her eyes. The epidemiologist glanced left and right, then frowned. "Hmm, are you going to look for an exit? I'm going to look everywhere and find whoever else is in here."

Shura tilted his head, eyes squinting at the shorter person. A few seconds passed in silence, though he slowly bobbed his head into a nod as he answered, "I am going to find the escape route, yes. I want nothing more than to show people the path to the light, after all!"

"I'm going to head the opposite way from where you were." She pointed behind her, a small smirk on her face. "Might be something useful there, hopefully."

"Hmmm." Shura nodded to himself for a few seconds, then grinned. "Right! Let's be confident in our abilities, my lady! I'm sure an exit will be near sooner or later!"

Mayari's smile softened within seconds, nodding. "Yeah, true. You have a point." She held her breath. _Glad he's optimistic though. I don't want to be seen like this for too long. Maybe having someone friendly to talk to could help clear my head._ Immediately, she forced herself to clap her hands together, speaking in a chirpy voice, "Cool! Then let's head out! That way!"

Shura heaved a hearty laugh, hands on his hips. "Right!"

With that now settled, the duo began making their way down the hallway. It was empty now that their voices were silenced, Mayari scanning the area while Shura was at the back, looking around for any new faces. It was empty as always, reminding Mayari to the first area she was in when she woke up. It was rather dirty and abandoned, nothing but cobwebs and dirt to paint the dim lights and darkness of the empty, long hallway.

Within a few footsteps, the door to the next room was seen. In front of Mayari and Shura laid a rather plain iron door, easily opened by the epidemiologist who slid it open. A sudden chill ran down her spine and she silently walked in, Shura following closely behind her.

Inside of the room, the woman instantly recognized the area as a surgical lab- a room that was built to conduct operations. Dark and gloomy, Mayari noticed that the rooms were split into three segments, the tarps and curtains separating each operation area from one another. Each segment had the hospital bed and surgical instruments, Mayari noticing the medical supplies and shelves kept against the walls for each area.

 _But this place looks more horror-esque than hospital-esque… if that's even a good comparison._ Mayari pursed her lips, then turned to look at the green-haired man, seeing the slight discomfort in his eyes. "Freaky place, huh?"

"Y-yeah! It is." Shura heaved a short laugh. "But don't worry! I will protect you, my fair maiden! HAHA!"

 _No need to act for me._ Mayari chuckled to herself, just staying silent. She moved over to the leftest side of the area, hands clipping around the curtain. She slid it to the side, earning her a few dust particles in her face and a swishing sound. The moment she did that, however, a person was right in front of her, immediately causing her to scream in fright. Sadly enough, that caused the other person to scream as well.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"AAH!"

The moment Mayari screamed, she saw that the person in front of her was another woman, just an inch shorter than her. Her cat eyes are a wide deep navy color, contrasting the split between bright pastel pink and beach blond hair the light tanned woman had. Actually, if anything, her appearance was nothing short of bright and colorful… then again, her thick eyebrows were furrowed to a frown, so Mayari wasn't exactly in the mood to play around.

"Ah, uh, sorry!" Mayari quickly bowed down. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Huh?" The split-colored haired young woman tilted her head. She looked at Mayari for a few seconds, then smiled and immediately threw a hand up. "Not a problem at all! I should've known you were going to be searching for me! I'm like a cat, y'know? … Nya."

 _D-did she just say nya?_ Calmer now, the epidemiologist took a good look at this rather peculiar girl.

With her strange wavy hair, the girl was rather intimidating despite her colorful appearance. Her eyebrows are arched and furrowed, thick with her small nose and thick bottom lip. Even her own build was rather intimidating in comparison to Mayari- this girl was rather muscular than the average person, especially given her own height and age. It's so strange when Mayari considered her clothing too. How can such a young woman be so contrasting? The epidemiologist was rather unsure of the answer.

As mentioned, the girl was rather colorful in her appearance. Wearing a bright red hoodie, Mayari instantly noticed the white cartoon rabbit face and little pink hearts that decorated the fabric. Even more than that, this girl was wearing a black blazer that had a variety of animal and animal organization pins decorating the collar. At the bottom were her matching shorts that were just above her knees, the epidemiologist's green eyes then looking downwards to find her mismatched pair of socks- left bring white with a carrot pattern, stopping a few inches above her ankle; and then the right which was purple and pooling around her healthy skin of ankle. Her shoes were rather colorful as well, albeit worn. They were decorated with all sorts of drawings and patterns, definitely in either markers or sharpies. If not for this, she was rather excessive in accessories- a messenger bag, golden hair clips, baseball cap, earrings… plenty of bandaids as well that came from various cartoon characters.

 _Geez, it's like Skittles overload right here. She's such an eyesore compared to this room._ Nonetheless, Mayari couldn't really deny that she envied this girl's colorful fashion- she was rather plain in appearance, after all. The epidemiologist didn't say much as she stared at this girl, though Shura's upcoming footsteps behind her made her snap back to reality.

"O-oh, right!" The black-haired woman smiled. "Er, who are you? I'm Mayari, epidemiologist. My friend over there is Shura."

"Huh? Oh- YES! And I am the beam of light, the Ultimate Armorer!" Shura quickly heaved a laugh, hands to his hips and laugh hearty and loud. "It is an honor to meet you!"

"Shura and Mayari?" The bandaged girl cocked her head to the side. "Hmmmmm. HMMM… oh! Okay! I see!"

"Yeah?" Mayari pushed back her locks of hair. "How about you? I'm assuming you're an Ultimate."

"Oh? Me? Easy!" The girl grinned widely, confident with her chin up. "I am the one, the only! The world's greatest pet detective, Nomi Kinjo! … nya."

* * *

 **Nomi Kinjo**

 **Ultimate Pet Detective**

* * *

"Pet detective?" Mayari glanced over at Nomi for another few seconds, then grinned wryly in response. "Explains the nyas you seem to like doing a lot."

"Does it? That's so cool!" Nomi bounced up and down, giggling. "Hey, hey, do you like cats? I don't even know if you do, but I'm assuming you like cats! Cats are cool pets, don't get me wrong, but like, you seem like the type to like dogs more. Do you like dogs more? Wanna go woof woof on me? Huh? What'd you say? Huh? Huh?"

 _What? I… I have no idea what she just said. What the fuck?_ Mayari was unable to even respond or think of anything, only staring blankly at Nomi who had continued to bounce as she spoke. The girl was excited, her eyes practically sparkling as they looked straight into the epidemiologist's own eyes.

"Ah, lady Nomi, if you wouldn't mind answering something…" Shura coughed, slightly caught off guard from the split-haired girl's bounciness. "What is a poor maiden like you doing here?"

"You mean in this room?" The bright-clothed young woman cocked her head to the side. Her cheeks puffed out and she began to think, brows arched even further. "Hmm… HMMM… Oh! I don't know! I thought there'd be a puppy or something hiding around here! Puppies are cute! Oh, oh! What's your favorite kind of puppy?"

"Puppy?" Mayari blinked. "I- uh-"

Shura just nervously laughed. "Haha, well! If I had to answer, then Saint Benards are cool! If not them, then a baby pug or bulldog! In any case, my fair maiden, dogs are highly loyal and dedicated to their owners! It is not a surprise one would be attached to the famous breed of 'man's best friend'!"

 _Oh, he actually answered._ Mayari blinked again and just nervously laughed, now murmuring a hesitant, "Shiba Inus are cute? Corgis are cute too though."

Nomi just whistled out a laugh in return, grinning widely. "Pets are cute whether they are or not … Wait, is that even right? Did I say that right? Huh? What? … Nya."

 _Oh._ The epidemiologist honestly was dumbstruck. Although she met a few quirky people here and there in her line of work, seeing someone who used nya as a form of genuine speech was baffling. Then again, she hadn't met someone like Nobuyuki either.

But, along that line, is it possible it was because they were Ultimates? Maybe being titled an Ultimate was a curse? Mayari was not exactly sure.

"Oh, right." Mayari quickly caught Nomi's attention again. "Have you seen anyone else here? Or at least an exit?"

"Haha, no! Nope! But yes, but no!" The young woman bounced up and down, grinning widely. "I doubt we'd be able to find an exit here anyways!"

"W-what?" Shura was caught off-guard. "Why?"

She took off her cap, twirling it around her finger. Her lips were puckered, nose wrinkled. "Well kiddos, hmm… I don't know. Why did I think that?" She stopped for a few seconds to think, then giggled. "Oh, right! Because we've definitely been kidnapped and our kidnappers are definitely smart!... nyan."

"Kidnapped?!" The armourer immediately hopped back, shock all over his face. His eyes were wide as saucers, hands above his head. "That- that can't be it! Who would dare commit such foolery!"

 _Kidnapped?_ Mayari gritted her teeth, eyes to the ground. _I mean… that would make sense. Ultimates are known, like celebrities. It's not uncommon for Ultimates to be in danger anyways… but still. Why are we held in this type of place? And how?_

Emerald green eyes shot back to Nomi, the split-haired woman continuing to twirl her cap. Mayari held her breath. "Well… let's think positive! We just need to think about this rationally. Why would we get kidnapped? I'm an epidemiologist, there's nothing special about you. And you're a pet detective, right? Why kidnap someone like you?"

"Appearances, kiddo!" Nomi chuckled, swaying from side to side. "People kidnap for ransom, like how people kidnap pets! That's how I was able to land myself the pet detective job, nya!"

 _Smarter than she looks, huh. Fuck._ Mayari smirked to herself, then turned and focused her attention on Shura. "What do you think?"

"I hope for the best for all of us! I will not let harm befall us!" The literal knight in shining armor stepped forward, hitting his armored chest with his fist. "I will protect you all for I am a protector of the innocent! I will never let evil taint us!"

"WOAH, oh my god! Is that who I think it is? Yeah?! Yeah, it's an actual superhero!" The pet detective gasped obnoxiously. "You're so cool, kid!"

"K-kid?" the armourer gasped, obviously baffled by this strange title. "Er, yeah! Please, feel free to think of me as who you want me to be! HAHA!"

 _Huh, at least they look like they're in good spirits._ The epidemiologist chuckled silently to herself, wiping some dust off her red dress. She smiled at the duo, crossing her arms as she continued to speak, saying, "Well, breaking the mood here for a bit: Nomi, have you met anyone else other than us?"

"Anyone else? Hmmmm, well, I saw this random person running off with a leech! They were being chased by some woman!... Or was it the other way around? Huh?" Nomi tilted her head. "I don't know. I woke up in a different place and wandered off here! This place looked reaaaal spooky, like it came from a horror game! It's so cool, nyan!"

"Wait, what?" The woman blinked. "There's leeches here?"

The green-haired man sighed, "I'm more concerned about the person being chased…"

"I'm sure they'll be fine, kiddos!" Nomi saluted the two with her hand. "If they were going to fight, I would've stopped them anyways, nya!"

 _Are you strong enough to stop them though?_ Mayari wanted to retort, but her logical mind decided against it. Instead, she just nodded along with Nomi's words, grinning. "True." She held her breath and pumped her chest. "Anyways! Shura and I are probably going to keep looking for the exit or at least more people, so… wanna join?"

"Oooooh! Liiiike an adventure?" Nomi leaned in, looking up at Mayari. She fluttered her eyes, smile wide as always. "Hmmmm, okay! That sounds like fun! Let's do it!"

"Already?" Shura looked shocked at this, but shook his head and smiled, holding his chin up high. "Of course! Let us proceed!"

There was nothing to be said to deny Shura and Nomi's excitement, Mayari figured. Despite the dim lighting of the area, the trio marched onwards, moving back into the hallways. It wasn't too exciting in the epidemiologist's eyes, her focus concentrated on the obvious offense of public ignorance of sanitation and lack of authority. Where were the authorities, the adults? While Mayari was now certain they were trapped inside of a dangerous situation, the need (rather, hope) for any source of comfort was tugging at her heartstrings. She would die to be around someone who knew the slightest bit of what to do. Kids were kids, even teenagers who believed they weren't kids… were kids.

Walking back down the hallway, the raven noticed the red velvet colored door that was to the right. It was intricate in design, swirls and dragon-like symbols painted on the door. Nomi had tried to pry the door open, but it was to no avail. Locked, the trio decided to check it out later, hopefully at a different time.

Continuing down the hallway, Mayari took notice of another room that was to the right, a simple white door with the plate nailed to it, saying "Consulting Room". A room for psychological evaluation and therapy, most likely face-to-face consultation if Mayari had to guess.

Nonetheless, she moved her hand to the handle, opening the door. Upon entering inside, Mayari was caught in surprise at the therapeutic scent of lavender in the room. It was rather clean in comparison to the rest of the hospital so far, walls uncolored and kept a white hue, the ceiling having decently bright lights with the floors tiled in squares. Similar to movies and video games, there was a soft pastel blue sofa to the side of the wall, then another chair for the psychologist. For added measure, the air humidifier was on top of a glass desk, then a few essential oils and notebooks. Simply put, it was a normal room for therapy.

But, of course, what caught Mayari's attention much more were the people inside of the room.

There was a man inside of the room, in-between two people who were about the epidemiologist's and the others' ages, strands of black hair seen in front of the African-styled golden lion mask that covered half of the man's face, only leaving his peach-colored lips to be seen. He definitely was older than everyone inside the room, and it was a given there was some sort of authority and fear to be felt, the man's black clawed gloves holding out what seemed to be a bloody, impaled leech.

"W-what the fuck?!"

The person on the ground was obviously distressed, a mixture of fear and disbelief all over their face. Their strands of dark brown hair somehow seemed to sway to their movements, round hazel eyes slightly wide. Their exude of sleepiness was gone, face pale as their navy blue newsie-styled cap loosened and fell to their side.

"Uhh…" Mayari was unsure on how to respond, just standing still. What was happening? Why was this happening? The woman wasn't sure, but she forced herself to move, stepping forward (but not too close) to the masked man. "Hey, uh, what's going on?"

The leech was slowly moving, inches away from death. Gushes of blood spilled to the ground as the lion-masked man turned slightly to Mayari's side. "... More rats. I shouldn't have intervened."

"Wait, rats?" The woman was caught off guard. "Excuse me?"

The dark blond-haired woman who was by the other side from the masked man made a soft huff. Her arms were crossed, the look on her face expressing nothing more than distaste. "Ah, I see you're getting the royal shaft as well, hun. The moment I chased this ankle-biter about we ran into this party pooper! Quite a strange one at that as well, doll! He began talking about us being insufferable rats, can you believe it?"

"Insufferable rats?" Shura stepped forward, pointing angrily at the lion-masked man. "You fiend! Do not speak in such derogatory terms!"

"Tsk, annoying." The older man rolled his silvery eyes, immediately dropping the leech that was spasming on the ground. Blood spilled about on his black-and-red clothing. "Why do I have to be around you kids? I should've complained to the representative."

Mayari furrowed her brows. "Representative? Who are you?"

The man pressed something on his clothes, and suddenly the claws on his gloves retracted into the fabric of the gloves. They were now regular gloves, the man taking the time to scratch his head. "Does it matter? Why do I care?"

"Oh, come on now, young man." The white circle dressed woman stepped forward, white ankle strap heels clinking against the ground. "After what you did to that young man down there, we deserve an explanation."

"I am not even a boy," the androdgyous person on the ground grumbled, putting their newsie cap back on. "I keep telling you…"

The older man said nothing in advance, just glaring down the delicate-sounding woman. He only scoffed afterwards, rolling his eyes. "Margaret Barbara Simmons, Michi Uyeno, Nomi Kinjo, Shura Kuznetsov, Mayari Liu… all of you are nothing more than rats like the rest of the other kids."

"Excuse me, kiddo." Nomi stepped forward, a catlike grin on her face. "Just tell us who you are, alright? We're all friends here, right?... Nya."

"Friends? Don't joke around with me." The man slowly put his hands into his pant's pockets, uncaring. "I am not here to make friends with you undeserving children. I am simply here as a caretaker, nothing more, nothing less."

"Yeah, sure!" The pet detective just giggled, amused as she threw her hands over the back of her head. "But, er, why kill the leech, nya? The leech didn't do anything, or did it? Did it? Did it? Did it?!"

"Because the two rats here before you other rats were arguing over whether to keep it or not." He motioned to the two unknown Ultimates, Michi and Margaret. "If needed, I will get a stuffed toy of a leech for Michi if that is what it takes for these two to stop annoying me."

"How were we annoying you, young man?" the woman, Margaret, asked. "We were not causing a ruckus until you pulled that distasteful stunt."

Michi groaned, resorting to trying to wipe off all the ink smudges on their face. "Ugh… it's too early for this shit- I mean shiz."

"You were annoying everyone and I knew that, simply because I monitor everything." The man closed his eyes, keeping his stance stiff and composed. "You were giving everyone a headache, you repulsive rats. I had no choice but to stop you two from giving everyone migraines, that is all."

Margaret was itching at her curly locks of hair, the parasol in her left hand waving back and forth to her movement. "You are such a party pooper, mister actor. Maybe I should just call you a chrome-plated fream, huh?"

"What does that even- whatever." Mayari decided not to bother with the vintage-styled woman, just focusing her attention on the tall man, glaring up at him. "Why do you keep calling us rats? You're the one who's dressed weird, first of all. Secondly, just because those two were arguing or whatever doesn't mean you have to pop out of nowhere and kill a leech!"

"Yeah!" Shura stepped forward as well, posture poised and confident. "Foul fiend, how dare you make waste to a precious life! Is it because you believe life only exists in humanity? That is such a backwards way of thinking!"

"I frankly do not care who dies, human or not. That should not be your main concern," the older man retorted, shaking his head. He surveyed the room for a bit, the scent inside slowly becoming fishier- dead. "Be more concerned about why you are all here, that is all. You're all disappointing me already, how shameful."

Nomi tilted her head, her split-colored hair swaying back and forth. "Kiddo, what? Huuuuh? Are we supposed to do something, nyan?"

"... Later, but not right now. Preparations are still being made." The man frowned. "Whatever, not that I care."

 _Preparations? Huh? What? This guy is spouting nonsense…_ Mayari bit into her lips, staring worriedly at the raven. "Can we at least get your name? If not, then that woman's gonna call you a… er, fream or something."

The man stayed silent, messing with his bloodied tie. A few seconds passed before he sighed, a disgruntled sound escaping his lips as he spoke, "Ares."

* * *

 **Ares**

* * *

 _Ares? Like the god?_ The epidemiologist frowned, taking a look at the older man in front of her. Adjusting the necklace around her, she couldn't help but grip onto the locket tightly. _Is he some kind of wannabe or something? How sad._

Ares made another grunt, uncaring about the people around him. He began moving, stepping to the door as he spoke: "Is that all you need? I'm going to take my leave."

"Excuse me, but I will not accept that!" Margaret huffed, tapping her parasol against the ground. "You should apologize, young man!"

"Apologize about what?" Ares sighed, obviously disinterested. "The leech? I frankly do not care. Rats do not deserve any form of apology from me."

The woman gasped, hands over her mouth. "Wha- excuse me! That is insulting!"

"Geez…" Michi was now on their feet, adjusting the lime green suspenders over their shoulders. "I don't really care anymore. Just do whatever."

The masked man scoffed, having only rolled his eyes before leaving, letting the door swing back and forth to a slow close. There, the supposed rats were left alone in their suffering, the silence overwhelming them.

"Sooo… like…" Nomi danced left and right, swaying her body. "Who's that kid again?"

The epidemiologist snorted. The lack of ladylike behavior didn't concern her at this very moment. If anything, her frustration was getting to her head. "Ares, duh."

"He worries me," Shura mused, crossing his arms as his armor clanked against each other. The wavy-haired man only grunted afterwards. "Rats…" Eyes scanned over the people inside of the room. "B-but do not fret! I will make sure that no harm befalls you!"

"Ah, what a gentleman!" The woman from before, Margaret, moved forward. She tiptoed her way to Shura, a warm smile escaping her face as she scooted next to him. "My, you're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

The armourer immediately grinned, heaving a mighty laugh. "HAHA! I'm just doing my rightful duty, madame!"

 _Huh, okay, what an eccentric lady._ Mayari frowned, deciding to take a better look at the woman in front of her.

Margaret was a curly blonde woman with a coiffed short bob hairstyle, brown roots are the ends. Her eyes were dark blue and almond shaped, skin fair with groomed fingernails and a hourglass, yet skinny physique. With a button nose and heart shaped face, she was rather attractive to the eye, her lips dark with dark pink orchid as her shade (most likely lipstick, if Mayari had to guess) with her cheeks having a pink blush, and then pale pink eyeshadow on her eyelids with an obvious black winged eyeliner with butterfly lashes on her face. Even though she was quite skinny, Mayari did take notice of the woman's belly, seeing it as a bump more than anything else, almost stretched.

Nonetheless, it was rude to look any further at her stomach, so the woman took in the details on Margaret's clothes. She was wearing a white circle dress that had red, pink, and fuschia roses as the pattern on her dress, her pleated skirt flared out and ending near her knees with a white petticoat underneath. A thin black belt was adjusted around the waist of the dress to cinch it in place, the upper part having a cream-colored brazier. At the bottom the woman was wearing transparent white stockings with white ankle strap heels, having pale pink daisies on the straps. For added measure, she was also wearing a pair of white lace gloves on her hands, a rose gold pearl necklace, and a pair of pink framed cat-eye sunglasses on the top of her head. A gray head scarf was rested around her right wrist and a pink flower bracelet on her left. Finally, she also carried a black purse bag that hung from her left arm.

She was definitely someone who looked quite traditional, at least in the epidemiologist's eyes. The woman pushed back her locks of black hair, staring at the dark blonde. "You doing alright?"

"Oh, aren't you a dear?" Margaret's smile was kind, her almond-shaped eyes peering down at the shorter woman. "You look like quite the ankle-biter, but I assume you're around my age?"

"Nomi's like my height, go call her the ankle-biter," Mayari retorted, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, you're an Ultimate, right?"

"Gee, where are my manners?" The woman heaved a feminine laugh, twirling her parasol around from side to side. She made a curtsy bow and spoke, "I'm Margaret Barbara Simmons, the Ultimate Makeup Historian. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

* * *

 **Margaret Barbara Simmons**

 **Ultimate Makeup Historian**

* * *

"Cool." Michi just scratched the back of their head. "Would've been nice to know that earlier or something."

"I was caught up with taking the leech away from you, baby." Margaret looked at the smaller person with endearment, though they didn't really take her words too well. The historian's eyes peered over the corpse of the leech. Her lips were pursed. "That Ares lad certainly hit a clinker."

 _She speaks in a language I understand like 50% of the time._ The epidemiologist said nothing though, only nodding her head. Her gaze loomed over to Michi. "And what's your talent?"

They glanced at Mayari and just shrugged. "Ultimate Cartoonist."

* * *

 **Michi Uyeno**

 **Ultimate Cartoonist**

* * *

"Ooooh! So you're like some kind of animator or artist or something? That's so cool, kiddo!" Nomi bounced up and down, her locks of split-colored hair bouncing up and down to her movements. "I wanna be a cartoonist too! Sign me up, nya!"

Mayari chuckled at the pet detective's excitement, but paid attention to Michi. They were a dark brunette, hair slightly wavy and thick, falling to the bottom of their ears and bangs straight across their face, reaching to their eyebrows. With Michi's round olive-colored face, they were covered in ink smudges over their face and brightly colored lipstick on their lips. Nonetheless, they had ink smudges over their hands as well, cool undertones in their skin with broad chest and shoulders.

Outfit wise, they were wearing a pair of tan cargo pants that was littered with tons of pockets, held up with a pair of lime green suspenders. With ¾ sleeved-off-the-shoulder white shirt, the shirt had a horizontal beige and black stripe pattern over it (of course, it was littered with ink smudges as well). At the bottom they were wearing bright pink houndstooth socks that peeked out over the top of their tennis shoes, being blue. Of course, mentioned before, Michi also wore a navy blue newsie-style cap, almost a signature trait of their character.

"I mean, I don't mind if you want to be a cartoonist or not?" Michi raised a brow, looking at Nomi who grinned widely. "Doesn't matter with me, I'm more concerned about the… uh…" They looked back to the leech. "Yeah."

"He's a foul beast!" Shura called out, crossing his arms. Obviously referring to Ares, the man's eyebrows were furrowed, scrunched downwards. "I cannot believe he would do such foolery!"

"Maybe it's his idea of a prank?" Michi suggested with a wry smile, though they immediately regretted it and coughed. "Ignore me."

Margaret frowned. "I hope he isn't in charge of this dusty place. I will report him to his superiors."

"I don't even know if he works here or not," Mayari spoke, crossing her arms. "He's obviously older than us."

Nomi huffed. "I mean, he did call us rats, kiddo."

"I do not see the point in calling us rats!" The blonde huffed, crossing her arms. Frustration was clear on her face. "He isn't a doll himself."

The epidemiologist laughed. "He's a bitch."

"Please watch your tongue, young lady." Margaret frowned, clicking her tongue. "It isn't ladylike to say such things."

Michi just resorted to laughing awkwardly. "Haha, right, watch your language…"

"Well, anyways…" Mayari frowned. "Have you guys seen the others? I know there's more people here, and since Ares left, I'm kinda worried about their safety."

"Yeah, since the dumb kiddo killed a leech and all that!" The detective shook her head sadly. "Why did Ares kill a leech? How did you find a leech anyways?!"

"Oh, that." Michi turned to look at Margaret who only huffed. They were left explaining the situation themself, frowning as they said, "I ended up finding a leech in a sink, and the leech looked like they liked me, soooo… Welp, I decided to make it my pet until the guy, y'know, had to kill that bastar- dastard."

"I did not want you to be sucked on by that leech, ankle-biter," Margaret began, twirling her parasol. She stopped twirling after a while, simply placing a hand on her stomach's bump. She frowned, suddenly scowling, "Then again, that Ares sir isn't much of a gentleman himself! What a disgusting man!"

Shura was caught off-guard, flinching. "L-Lady Margaret, please calm down!"

"Oh, you don't need to call me Margaret." She chuckled, suddenly calm. She moved her hands up, puffing out her bob. "Feel free to call me Marge, sir."

"Marge?" Mayari hummed, resorting to carefully examining the makeup historian. She couldn't help but judge the woman, the clinks and clanks in her brain turning. "... Seems simple enough."

"Guess so." The cartoonist shrugged. "Anyways, about anyone else? Haven't met anyone other than Marge and Ares, yeah."

"It is the same for me," the taller woman jumped in. "I haven't met anyone else other than those inside here."

Nomi immediately pouted, puffing her cheeks out and shaking her head. "Awww, you don't even remember seeing me? That's sad, nya!"

"Hmm…" The epidemiologist thought to herself, concentrated in her own head. _Given Ares' words, I think he's not the only person who seemed to be different from the 'rats', or us? Us Ultimates? Does that mean there's more people who are dangerous like him here?_

She smirked dryly. _Then again, we have Hotaru and Nobuyuki to cry about. Maybe if we just look for everyone else here…_

Mayari looked back at the group, watching Nomi interact with Michi who shook their head to her questions. From what she could see, it seemed like Margaret seemed fond of Shura, and the armourer was happy to receive her undying compliments. Lovely, Mayari nodded to herself.

"Well, we should probably look for the others," she began, cutting into everyone's conversation. "Shura told me there's more people here, and since I haven't met them and met other people you guys don't know, I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones here."

"Charming," Margaret simply said, smiling with her pink orchid colored lips. "Should we explore?"

"Maybe it's better if we split up. This place is kinda huge." The epidemiologist cocked her head to the side, gauging everyone's response. They didn't seem to refute her, making her continue: "We just need to look for everyone and have us all gather somewhere, like, hm… maybe in the hallway outside this place? Just in front of the door."

Nomi tapped her fingers together, clicking them against her hips. "Sounds reasonable enough, nyan! It's like a game or something."

Margaret nodded her head. "If I may suggest, I would love to be near the gentleman here. He's such a doll." She referred to Shura, the man behind the armor raising his brows up in slight surprise. She giggled, then turned to Michi. "Would you join us, sir?"

"I, er…" The cartoonist obviously looked uncomfortable, turning to Mayari. "I can go with her, if that's okay."

"Works with me," the raven answered, grinning. She clapped her hands together, then focused her attention on Nomi. "Wanna go with Shura and Marge? You guys can meet Keni and the others. They're in the place I woke up."

 _And somehow not run into Nobuyuki and Hotaru, but I'd rather not mention them._

"Oh, so there's people in this area? Sounds like fun! I'll join them then!" She cried out, saluting nobody in particular. "Woo!"

"Michi, we're going to check the places I haven't been to." She pointed behind her, referring to the other area. "You good with that?"

The suspender-wearing Ultimate shrugged. "Sure, go ahead. I'll follow."

"Right!" Mayari chuckled. "So we're just going to look for everyone and have them gather around this area. We can meet up and work together afterwards. That's good, right?"

Shura heaved a hearty laugh. "Hah, if it involves helping people, I am all for it! Have no fear!"

Nomi threw her hands up. "And no feet!"

"YEAH- wait, what?"

* * *

... Er, yeah, and that's the end of this chapter for now! I really don't have much to say other than haha it's 4:20 as I'm talking, haha blaze it. Blame my Discord friend for always joking about that, cough.

Anyways, I'll see you all next chapter, so bye!


	5. Decrescendo (Prologue)

Hello, it's been a while, hasn't it? How long has it been, around two months or so? I'm sorry for keeping you all in suspense, but obviously life is always a first for just about anyone! March was around the time of midterms for me, and given this current world's situation, I suppose you can say being stuck at home gave me plenty of time to work on my homework and projects in advance, which allowed me to work on my chapters, hence why we finally have another chapter here! This is the second to last set of intros, and after the last set we will finally get into the nitty gritty of the story! Good news about that is I have outlined my ideas and the murderers-victims for that earlier than I did for the other two of my stories, so I am much more organized right now, which hopefully means this story will be a step above those two at least! I'm also getting and reaching out to people for help on this, so I believe I will be much better when it comes to the planning of murders!

Not that it matters too much at the moment, since you have to see it in order to know if I really ended up becoming a better writer, but we'll see! Let's get right into the intros!

 **Ziggymia123:** "It's not a requirement for you to review my chapters, so you're valid, of course! ^.^ Interesting theory, but I'll keep that in mind! I'm keeping a list of content warnings and triggers in mind so I can warn people if something is explicitly gorey or not, so hopefully I won't touch upon something without forgetting to warn people! Shura's a sweet person, he deserves all the love! Haha, Nomi's an explosion of character, and you definitely showed that in your review here, nya! Fezzes are definitely cool, and yes, MEECH THE LEECH! Greek Gods are cool :0"

 **TheRoseShadow21:** "Aaaah, it's okay, maybe we can get a plushie of a leech or something :) Aww, Shura's getting all the love he deserves, he's such a sweet person. Michi's great! Love them, I love all! And thanks!"

 **Prince PokePersona:** "Yo yo, did you expect another chapter right now ;), anyways hello! Haha, I do love characters, but intro hell is a thing and I'm dying, save me. We have a lot of M names and blue haired people, but oh well! Mikoto's still a good girl, let's protect. Shura's amazing, I'm glad a lot of people like him! Mhm, Nomi's an eccentric type of person, very chipper, I love her! Haha, glad you like how I portrayed her! Michi is a poor child, let's save them! Ares is mean, I cry. Hmm, who knows ;)"

 **mpjindustries:** "You can PM me the details if you want it changed! I can always just change up his appearance in the intros if you want! Yeah, Mikoto does seem like that, huh? Hmm, who knows? Glad you like Shura! Haha, yes, say hi to Nomi! Ares is a rude one, yes. Aaah, could go either way for anything. Michi, Michi, Mayari!"

* * *

 **BIG THANKS TO OUR BETA READERS: Sharkeye and Lupus Overkill!**

* * *

The supposed difference from the words feet to fear aside as told by the pet detective (who was more than amused to fluster the confused Shura and bewildered Margaret), Mayari and Michi took this time to move, the epidemiologist opening the door for the cartoonist. It wasn't hard to reach their unknown destination, the door leading to the next area right in front of where the hallway led to from west to east.

It was another glass door, Mayari concluded. It opened automatically the moment the duo stepped in front of it. Inside was obviously a lobby, or at least a reception room. The walls were cream colored, the ceiling a relaxing shade of white in comparison to the smooth, wooden tilted floor. Inside of the spacious room were plenty of white chairs and sofas strewn about, each couple or so having a wooden table in the middle, with a glass vase with fake yellow and purple flowers to be seen. It was spacious and big for a room, though that didn't necessarily bother Mayari. If anything, this place was rather calming to her, especially when she saw the paintings of landscapes on the walls.

She smiled softly to herself. Her mother would always paint in her free time. The hues of the summer glow, the radiance of the ocean sea… everything was calming to her, and the paintings she was gazing at right this moment made her feel nothing more than serene.

"This place looks cool," the epidemiologist mused, smiling over to Michi who was analyzing the nearest painting to them. "Almost a bit too clean though."

"Yeah, you have a point, I guess?" The brunette furrowed their brows. "I don't think I've searched a lot of places since Marge chased me down, y'know, so… yeah."

"Not a surprise." Mayari smiled kindly, showing the slightest bit of empathy for the cartoonist. "She really didn't like seeing you with the leech, huh?"

Michi huffed, eyes averted to the left. "It's not like the leech would've hurt me? It's not exactly a pet either, but, I mean…" They shrugged. "It's still a living, breathing thing."

"Makes sense." She clapped her hands together, a smile still present with her pearly white teeth showing. "I feel like you'd get along great with Nomi then!"

"Huh. 'Cause she's a pet detective?" Michi furrowed their brows. "I mean, I guess so. I don't know… she's kinda quirky? Not in a bad way, of course. If anything, it's just… Er, I prefer not to be around too many people. She's like a whole ten people package or something."

"Oh, don't worry about that! I get what you're saying, haha. Nomi's endearing that way though." Mayari chuckled to herself, brushing a few of her locks back. "... Hm. Looks like no one's here. Huh, strange."

"Ah, yeah." The brunette took a look around the area. They just shrugged afterwards, still looking at the painting in front of them. "I guess we can just look around here for a bit and just move on again? Whatever you want though."

"Well…" Taking another look around the area, Mayari wasn't exactly sure what to do herself. Was this place worth searching in her emerald green eyes? The raven bit into her lips. "I guess we can move on. There's nobody here anyways."

"Mhm, works with me." The cartoonist didn't exactly mind, pulling back some of their brown locks. They scanned the area for yet another second, but paid no attention any longer as they took the first step out, moving towards the door from the end of the room, leaving Mayari to follow, ignoring the two horizontal doors.

Mayari frowned as she watched the cartoonist move, however. Her small, yet slender fingers were wrapped around one of the table cloths on set. Soft, clean, not even a speck of dust to be seen. _Hmm… not that comforting, but alright._ The epidemiologist pursed her lips, then slowly stepped forward and continued moving. That didn't matter. That one tiny detail shouldn't matter to her at all. She couldn't hesitate, after all. She refused.

Moving vertically, she watched Michi open the door into the next area. Peering inside, the woman found herself in some sort of open area, nothing to be seen. It was similar to another hallway, just a room meant to lead you straight to the other room. That was obvious in the woman's eyes though, her gaze focused on the strangely intricate designed and golden door in front of her and Michi.

The walls were the same sterile beige color, though Mayari definitely found it odd that the color of the wall that held the golden door was much more extravagant, a purple and red striped pattern lining the wall together. Her heels clicked against the white floor, her eyes finding nothing but a mixture between overly suspicious to overly conspicuous emotions in her head.

"Weird place." That was all Michi said as they adjusted the cap on their head. They were obviously looking at Mayari for answers- answers she herself didn't have either.

 _I wonder where the others are? Then again…_ Her mind bounced back to Ares, expression slightly darkening as she remembered his aggression, just how disgusted he was at all of them. … _hmmm, I just have bad feelings altogether about this._

She forced on a happy front, clapping her hands together and smiling widely. "It'll be fine. I doubt anything's gonna just jump out on us behind that door."

Michi only squinted at her. "So you're going to try opening it?"

"I mean, why not?" Her pearly white teeth shined. "It's not like we're going to die or something. Don't worry about it."

The cartoonist was hesitant, but slowly nodded their head. "Right."

With that settled, she stepped forward, heading straight for the door. Even if her heart was beating quickly to signal her increasing anxiety, she couldn't hesitate, staring straight at the handle on the door. Fingers laced around the handle and she pulled down, yet heard nothing more then that metallic click that signaled it wasn't opened… well, couldn't be opened. She tugged a couple of times before giving up, shaking her head and turning back to meet Michi's gaze.

"Nope, it's locked." She smiled right at Michi, throwing her hands behind the back of her head. "Oh well, guess we should check the other places then, huh?"

"Yup." Michi nodded. "Guess so."

The epidemiologist hummed in response, scratching the back of her head. She was about to turn around when she saw the door opening, revealing a rather tall young woman with short burgundy hair. The woman's sharp amber eyes widened upon seeing Mayari and Michi, though it wasn't out of concern or fear, simply shock. Most likely, this woman already saw other people like her in the area.

"Hello!" the burgundy-haired woman greeted, throwing the smaller two a kind smile. "I haven't met you two yet. What're your names?"

"Oh, uh, Michi." They blinked. "I'm a cartoonist."

Mayari just smiled at the woman back in return, answering after Michi's quick response. "And I'm Mayari, the Ultimate Epidemiologist. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet you!" The light tanned woman continued to smile. "My name's Nao Mitsurugi, and I'm the Ultimate Basketball Player!"

* * *

 **Nao Mitsurugi**

 **Ultimate Basketball Player**

* * *

Examining the tall woman closely, Mayari noticed that the loose and wavy, pixie cut haired player had a rather oval-shaped face, lithe and toned build with twitched muscles, befitting for an athlete rather than a bodybuilder. Her legs were definitely more built than her arms, but she looked strong nonetheless, lean muscled with lacking curves, making her look androgynous in the epidemiologist's eyes.

Clothing wise, the basketball player was wearing a dark green jersey with white lettering of the name 'Kawasaki Cranes', then a logo of the crane on the front. Over this she was wearing a red zipped-up sweatshirt over her basketball uniform, the uniform having the logo of a few concentric circles surrounding a small bird. On the bottom, she was wearing a pair of dark green athletic shorts and a pair of black and gold sneakers, almost emphasizing on the fact that she was an athlete, specifically a basketball player.

"Should've figured you played basketball or something," Mayari mused, chuckling as she spoke. "You should teach me sometime!"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" The taller woman chirped with her rather high voice, eyes sparkling with joy. She pumped her fist up with a small hop in her step. "Have you played before?"

The epidemiologist shook her head. "Nope, although I have a meaaaan free throw."

Nao chuckled, nodding her head in return. "Sounds like it. Don't worry, I'll teach you as much as possible when I'm free! Don't know if there's a court around this place, but y'know, goes without saying."

"Yup, good point." Mayari's face slightly turned grim, though she forced herself to keep a happy front. "Uh, have you seen anyone else here? You look like you've met a lot of people here."

"Oh, yeah, of course." The pixie-haired woman smiled, toying a bit with the bangs on her hair. "I've met a couple of people. I was just looking for more people here before I saw you two."

"Really?" The raven raised a brow. "Where's the others?"

"Probably scattered about," Nao admitted, her chuckle slightly awkward. "I saw a few a while ago. They said their names were Umaru, Ray, and Machi I think? They were going to explore the area though, so I didn't want to stop them."

Mayari glanced over to Michi who shrugged, just murmuring a soft, "Didn't see them, so I don't know."

The epidemiologist clicked her heels against the floor. "Well, they were all Ultimates, right? Most of the people we've seen so far were all Ultimates."

"Yup." Nao smiled at Mayari's words. "They're nice people. We'll probably see them again sooner or later."

"Hopefully!" the epidemiologist exclaimed, throwing a hand up. She grinned as she continued, "Me and Michi were looking for more people, that's why."

Michi nodded. "Yup, we only found you so far in our quest."

The basketball star just smiled. "Oh, that's cool! I can help you guys look for some more people if you want."

"You sure?" The cartoonist looked up at her, raising a brow. "You don't need to. Ah, well… Er, I mean, not in a bad way, but like, aren't you busy? I thought you were looking for people still or something?"

Nao shook her head. "Well, if you guys are looking for people too, I can join! I'm here to help you guys out."

Mayari looked at the burgundy-haired athlete and just smiled, nodding her head as she answered with a kind tone, "Sure! I don't see why not."

"Great!" The star clapped her hands together, smiling. Her vibrant gaze lifted the mood of those around her. "Let's get going then!"

Nao immediately turned back and led the way. Mayari and Michi exchanged glances before deciding to follow suit, walking back from this area and straight back into the lobby room. As expected, nobody seemed to be inside at the moment, the basketball player noting to herself as she turned around to meet her new acquaintances' gazes.

"Have you guys checked every place?" she asked, polite with her smile intact.

Mayari was the one to answer, shaking her head. "Nope, we haven't checked the other areas through the doors here, except the door leading to the longass hallway."

The cartoonist nodded. "Yup. We just came through here a while ago. Mayari said she explored the area in the back."

"Oh, alright." Nao nodded, toying a bit with her short burgundy bangs. Eyes looked from place to place, then she pointed to the door on the right from her view. "Let's head there then."

"Eh, whatever works." Michi just shrugged and stepped forward.

The first steps were taken, the epidemiologist nodding to herself and following. She watched the athlete open the door, stepping in after her and Michi.

Upon entering, the woman's eyes took notice that the area they were in was similar to a hallway. Moreso, it simply acted as one, if not a simple room that would lead you to another, grander area. The walls were another sterile white with some dust and dirt on the ground, lights from above flickering ever so slightly, almost making Mayari's head ache.

However, that didn't matter. What mattered were the two people inside of the room, those Nao instantly noticed and ran over to.

"Ray! Umaru!" She smiled as she stopped in front of them, kindly throwing her hands behind her back and looking at them. She seemed to be on eye-level with them, the duo both being tall themselves (much to Mayari's dismay). "I didn't know you two met each other already."

The thin, pale-skinned chestnut-haired man was the first to speak, voice in a clear tone as he said, "Of course. It is decency to reach out to your peers and introduce yourself to them, especially in these dire and strange circumstances."

The beige-skinned and athletic looking man was next to speak, a friendly smile on his lips as he chirped, "Hello again, Nao!" His almond dark blue eyes peered forward, a curious tilt of his head apparent as he questioned, "Who are they?"

"Oh, I just met them," Nao mused in return, gaze friendly as ever as she glanced at the shorter two.

"Right." Mayari coughed and threw the two new faces a peace sign. "Yo, Mayari Liu here. I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist."

Michi just shrugged. "Michi Uyeno, Ultimate Cartoonist. Nice to meet you, I guess."

"Oh, nice to meet you two as well, Mayari and Michi!" The friendly man waved in a jovial mood, his spiky blond hair almost bouncing, especially given the ahoge that swayed to his movement. "My name's Umaru Konul, and I'm the Ultimate Composer!"

* * *

 **Umaru Konul**

 **Ultimate Composer**

* * *

Looking at the tall man, Mayari definitely wouldn't have expected someone with an athletic build to have such a talent. He was definitely athletic in a build where she would've expected him to be a lightweight fighter or a taekwondo practitioner, either one. Even then, the idea of him being a composer never went through her head, her eyes scanning his beige skin tone and oval-shaped face.

She shook her head. _Let's forget about that._

Looking at him closer, the blonde was wearing a white pintuck shirt under an orange hooded dolman sweater which had a yellow accent and musical number patterns on the left sleeve of his sweater, then behind the sweater being a wing design. There were also two zippers on his sweater and he had a dark blue western bow tie around his neck. On the bottom, Umaru was wearing a gray-brown pair of pants with black slip ons, zipper designs apparent as well. If that wasn't enough, he was wearing a wireless headphone with a microphone.

Maybe the headphone should've been a hint that he was a composer, but then again, Mayari wasn't exactly that excited to play a game of 'guess the Ultimate of these people'. The epidemiologist kept her smile intact, however, nodding her head as she turned to eye the other man, presumably Ray. "How about you?"

"Ah, right, where are my manners." The man cleared his throat and smiled politely. "My name is Ray Oyama, and I am the son of Raiden and Izumi Oyama, my father and mother. I have been granted with the title of Ultimate Ice Cream Maker."

* * *

 **Ray Oyama**

 **Ultimate Ice Cream Maker**

* * *

In comparison to Nao and Umaru, Ray was a few inches shorter, though still tall nonetheless. However, in comparison to Mayari's initial judgment of the composer, she did not think of the brunette as anything profound and similar to Nao's talent. The man was thin and lanky, obviously not having a lot of muscle mass for starters. Even when he was wearing clothes which looked bulky on him, it was obvious he was still a rather thin man. With pale skin and cobalt blue colored eyes, what intrigued the epidemiologist was how sharp his features were, and the charming smile he was wearing at this exact moment.

In regards to clothing, the man was wearing what seemed to be a gray shirt underneath a double breasted chef jacket. The shoulders and upper body of the jacket are an icy blue color, and it slowly becomes a stark white as Mayari went down along his jacket. Contrasting that was the collar and buttons which were a pitch black, and the slacks he wore which had black and navy blue vertical stripes. His shoes were white and blue running shoes and he was wearing a leather wristwatch on his right wrist, though what was most noticeable about his appearance would have to be the metal pack he strung over his shoulders.

"Oh, you make ice cream?" Michi raised a brow at the tall man in a hint of want and hunger. "Sweet."

"Only the finest, of course," Ray added in, a smile etched on his face. "I create the finest frozen confections that will help lead humanity into a modern day renaissance, for I am a genius. You should not expect anything less from me."

 _It's just ice cream though?_ Mayari almost wanted to retort at the brunette, but decided against it and smiled. "I guess you two met Nao already?"

"Mhm, and she is a lovely lady," Umaru mused, swaying from side to side as if music was playing in the background. His hands seemed to be slightly moving like he were a conductor, though it wasn't anything dire to think about in Mayari's eyes. "She said she was going to look for everyone else and told me to stay safe before I met Ray, after all! And now she's introducing me to you two!"

"It's nothing special," the basketball player muttered, slightly embarrassed. "It was just by coincidence we met you two here. I'm glad you two met though! Have you guys met anybody else?"

"I think so." The composer tilted his head. "I think his name was Gento? He was really mean to me though! I don't know what I did!"

Ray tapped his foot on the ground. Cobalt eyes were staring at his watch. "Was the man insulted by anything you said, Umaru?"

"I-I don't think so?" Umaru pouted slightly, eyebrows arched. "I just came over to say hi and he told me to bug off."

Mayari shrugged. "That just sounds like an asshole." She smiled at the composer reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. I've met assholes here already."

"That's rather concerning," the ice cream maker admitted. "I've been in the presence of such a type myself. She was quite cruel in her tone, offending my genius state of mind as I simply offered to introduce myself to her."

"Oh, ick." The cartoonist just frowned after a shudder escaped their body. "Sounds like a lot of people aren't that nice then, no offense."

Nao shook her head, arms crossed. "If that's the case, we just need to deal with them when the time comes. I was thinking we should all look for each other and find a way out of here. I mean, I don't even remember how I got here."

"Haha, same here!" Umaru sounded joking about that, though the slight sweat on his forehead told Mayari otherwise. "I really can't remember anything. I thought my memory was intact too, so it's weird…"

Mayari shook her head. "It's alright." She clapped her hands together, garnering everybody's attention. "My idea was the same as Nao's. Me and Michi came to look around to find the rest of the people here and gather them up in an area. We told people to meet us in a spot."

"Oh! That's smart of you!" the athlete chirped, nodding. "I can help with that then. Where did you want everyone to meet?"

Michi blinked, poking in with a quick, "It's like the closest door after you open the way to the lobby."

"Hm?" The ice cream maker softly murmured to himself, eyes slightly wide. "Oh, right, haven't even checked that area out yet."

The epidemiologist just chuckled. "I mean, you guys can probably look for more people. As long as everyone's in the meeting room, it'll be fine. I'm not even sure how many of us are trapped here."

Nao pursed her lips. Her hand slowly moved over to toy with her bangs again. "I mean, how many did you find so far?"

"Including you guys?" Mayari bit into her lips, thinking. While thinking, she couldn't help but think about Ares. Did he even count? The woman couldn't help but decide against it. "Umm… fourteen? Including me."

"That's a lot!" the composer exclaimed, hands over his cheeks. "Wouldn't it be surprising if we had over fifty of us?"

"Uh, I'd rather not," Michi said in a deadpanned tone, toying with their cap.

The brunette chuckled in a charming tone. "I do not want my genius mind to be tarnished with a great amount of people. A great amount of people means a great amount of responsibility for me, and I desire nothing more than a mental break at this moment."

Nao chuckled lightly. "I think we all do."

The epidemiologist couldn't agree more, though she knew better than to falter now. She glanced around this sterile area before focusing back to Nao and the others. "Are you guys going to join us? You can go on ahead and explore the other area. We're just doing a look around this, er, right side of the building."

Nao turned to look at Ray and Umaru, reading their expressions. Seeing their shrugs and shakes of the head, she just scratched the back of her head and did an awkward chuckle. "Well, guess we can split off and look for the others? We should be able to find the meeting spot anyways."

"True!" the blonde immediately chirped, throwing a hand up. "We'll catch up to you two sooner or later!"

Ray made a soft chuckle, arms crossed as he made his piece, "I would love to explore the area. There are many unexplored parts I have yet to discover, after all." His eyes looked down at Mayari. "With my lovely acquaintances by my side, we will be sure to part and meet with you and your friend soon."

"Oh, alright." The epidemiologist cocked her head to the side, curling her lips into a goofy smile. "Works with me."

"Cool!" Nao clapped her hands together and looked back to her acquaintances. "You two are done here, right? Wanna move ahead?"

Umaru smiled and waved an imaginary baton around, having fun in contrast to the ice cream maker who was tapping on his wristwatch. "Mhm~ Whatever you want, of course! I haven't really explored the area that much."

The athlete nodded. "Cool, then we could just move."

"Fine with me," Mayari chirped, just nodding her head in return. She glanced over to Michi who gave her an awkward smile. "I'll just continue looking for other people with Michi."

Ray politely bowed as he began moving out the door, Umaru and Nao following closely behind him. "We'll meet again later. Good luck."

"Yup, same to you." The cartoonist hummed and toyed with their cap for a while, then turning to the epidemiologist. "Guess we're looking around here some more."

Mayari just nodded in response and clicked her heels against the floor, making a slight hop forward as she moved down the hallway. She quickly went down the floor and frowned when she found herself staring through a stairway that was blocked by nothing more than prison bars, locking her from gaining access through. She held tightly onto the bars and tried to pull, but only grunted and wasted her energy after a while. She clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

"Ugh, no use," she murmured, turning to the brunette. "The stairway's locked. I can't break the bars."

Michi furrowed their brows. "Really? But, like, what if people are upstairs?"

 _That'd be fucking cruel. I somehow doubt that though._ Mayari pursed her lips, then shook her head and smiled. "I'm sure that can't be it. I don't know, but let's just have hope that isn't the case."

"Mm, true." The brunette scratched the back of their head. "I mean, we haven't explored the entire area yet anyways."

The woman snapped her fingers and smirked, letting out a low, "Exactly~"

 _I do wonder how many people are even in this place… then again, I guess the biggest question is why, or even how._ Not that it mattered at the moment, the woman figured. She needed to find the others and meet up with Margaret's group, after all. To plan a way to escape, to somehow break through this rather worn down area… that was all that should matter at the moment. To interrogate in her head was nothing more than ridiculous, or so she would think.

 _Doesn't matter!_ She clapped her hands, creating a loud sound that made the cartoonist flinch. She smiled at them. "Let's get going."

Going back the way they came from, Mayari and Michi moved straight into the lobby area. There was only one door left that was left unexplored, and now the duo were ready. The woman stepped ahead and opened the door for Michi, the cartoonist walking in as she closed it behind them.

Once inside, the Ultimate Epidemiologist realized she was in some sort of cafeteria, noting the dozen or so long tables and chairs in the area. She took notice of the warm brown color of the area, then glancing over to the empty circular area in the middle where one could get their drinks, condiments, plates, etc. Along the walls were the stations for each type of food available- a desserts and cafe area, a station which seemed to be a fusion of Asian food, one for tacos and other dishes, etc. While each station was empty and nobody seemed around, the area was rather… clean, to put it shortly. There were even some vending machines all over the area, those which provided both drinks, essentials, and food. Mayari could even see that the cafeteria extended outwards from where she and Michi stood. It was a rather spacious and big area, the only thing that ended such being the lobby where they came from and the small hallway that would lead people to the other areas.

 _I wonder if they cost anything here._ Mayari walked to the closest vending machine, green eyes in the reflection as she scanned the drinks. In the need to experiment, the woman brought her fingers to the keypad and typed in a simple 'B1'. It instantly registered what she wanted, the vending machine making a soft 'whrr' as the black iced tea she chose fell from its position.

"Oh." She blinked. That was all she said before reaching down and opening the flap, grabbing her iced drink. She frowned. It was relatively chilly, cold. "Huh."

"So it's free." Michi grinned. "That's really cool."

She scanned the drink for any expiration date, then made a soft hum as she realized the date was far away from now. She opened it up and took a sip. "Mm, tastes good!" The woman turned to Michi excitedly. "You should get a drink."

"I think I'm good," the cartoonist replied, chuckling. "I can probably just get one later."

"You sure?" But when she saw the brunette nod again, she just shrugged and took a couple more sips before stopping. "Well, at least we know we won't die that quickly here, assuming all the machines are free."

Michi just snorted. "True."

The woman chuckled in return, then slowly looked around the area some more. Examining her surroundings more closely, her eyes immediately stopped upon noticing a figure from faraway in the room. From what she could tell from her view, it was a rather tall woman who was hunched over what seemed to be some food, the woman herself looking as if she had brown hair, though Mayari did take notice of the hair that ended in a sandier, off-whitish color.

Mayari nodded to herself and quickly gestured to Michi to follow. Once she saw the Ultimate nodding their head, she took the first steps forward, making her way down the long, almost hallway-like room before she was close to the brunette. It didn't take long for that brunette to notice them though, her different colored eyes (her right being a pale, dark blue and the left being a light orange) staring straight at them.

"O-oh." The feathery and long-haired woman looked slightly startled by their sudden appearance, her grip around her gingle ale almost dropping and causing it to spill to the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect to find more people here. Um, sorry."

Even though the woman was talking, Mayari couldn't help but note the brunette's appearance. If not for her heterochromia or her almost gradient-falling hair, it was how the relatively average-build woman looked in terms of skin. While her skin was light, it was splotched over sporadically with paler areas all over her body. The one that was most noticeable was the one that reached up to the right side of the brunette's neck to the base of the right cheek. Mayari also took notice of the freckles that were covering the entire upper half of her body.

 _Definitely some kind of genetic condition,_ the epidemiologist first thought, her heart on a race on both curiosity and understanding. _Chimerism?_

Mayari smiled. "Don't worry. We were looking for more people and saw you, so we thought to go say hi."

"Ah, of course. Hello." The brunette pulled back some of her bangs, though it accumulated back to the left. "Err, you want my name, right? I'm Machi. Machi Komazaki. I'm a biochemist."

* * *

 **Machi Komazaki**

 **Ultimate Biochemist**

* * *

 _Ooh, another person who's into the sciences!_ The want to fangirl was in her head, but Mayari shoved it aside, eyes scanning Machi's clothing.

The biochemist was wearing a plain and white long-sleeved shirt underneath an open flannel shirt with the collar loose and a rust-red and white plaid pattern. While not obvious from a glance, it was to be noted that the flannel was missing a third button from the top, though Mayari figured that was just a clothing malfunction or mishap- didn't really matter. Even then, Machi was wearing a lab coat over those two pieces of clothing, the coat having an empty pocket over the left side of the chest. The coat was hanging down to just about her calves and had a hole for her thumbs in the sleeves. Down below, she was wearing a pair of slightly damaged dark gray pants with the seam tearing above the left knee, showing its white sewing. To finish it off, the brunette sported a pair of worn-out blue slip-on shoes, the soles being a plain white color.

Should've been obvious she was someone who worked in either a medical or scientific field, but Mayari was amused nonetheless. "Nice to meet you," she greeted kindly. "I'm Mayari Liu, and I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist."

Michi stepped in next, nodding their head. "Michi Uyeno, Ultimate Cartoonist."

"Oh, that's nice." Machi nodded politely, a bit unsure on what else to add. She was fiddling with her hands, eyes peering down at the table. Her fingers were touching one another, tapping. "Um, so what exactly did you two want?"

The epidemiologist crossed her arms. "Just intros, that's all! Besides that, we were going to ask you if you can head over to our meeting spot."

The biochemist raised a brow, blinking. "Meeting spot?"

"We're trying to look for anyone else we didn't meet yet," the cartoonist explained, scratching their head. "We're all gonna gather in some therapy room or something, plan a way to get out… I think."

"I haven't really, err, been there. I woke up a while ago…" Machi averted her gaze, fingers continuing to tap against one another. "Sorry if it's off topic, but do you two remember anything? I mean, how we ended up here. Err, I wouldn't expect to find so many Ultimates in here either."

Mayari tilted her head. "You've met some other people then?"

Her heterochromia eyes focused on the ginger ale on the table. Her bento box had been finished, nothing but tiny specks of rice and sauce to be seen. "Ah, a few. They were all Ultimates and wanted to explore, but I got hungry and walked here to take a break."

The raven nodded. "Yeah, I've met like fourteen other people here, including me and Michi." She frowned. "I don't think any of us remember how we got here."

"Oh no, that's just… concerning." Machi held her breath. She began to mumble some stuff, speaking in a fast and worried manner. She shook her head and pursed her lips, silent now.

"Err." Mayari didn't want the woman to worry too much, so she quickly thought of a subject to lighten the mood. "Well, do you want to tag along with us? I mean, you don't have to, we're just looking for more people. We could take you to the meeting spot if you want."

"Um…" The biochemist looked unsure, hesitant as she spoke after a while, "What do you suggest?"

The epidemiologist blinked. "Oh, uh, I mean, it doesn't really matter." She shrugged, keeping on a friendly smile. "You could tag along with us if you want! We're just looking for more people, so anything works."

Machi slowly nodded her head. She took a small sip out of her drink. "Ah, yeah. True."

Michi just glanced around the area. "We shouldn't be too far from searching the entire place. We just need this area searched and I think we got everything down."

"Yeah." Mayari tapped a finger against her drink. "Then we could go back and wait for Marge and the others."

The cartoonist stretched their arms out and heaved a grunt, "Mhm."

The biochemist slowly stood up from her seat, grabbing both her drink and food. It was there that Mayari realized how tall the woman was, making the epidemiologist wonder how exactly many tall people were inside here compared to her height. Well, not that it mattered, Machi moving over to throw the trash away into a bin. She walked back to the duo and just blinked a couple of times, unsure on what to say.

At this, Mayari clapped her hands together. "Me and Michi didn't really check this area. I'm guessing you did though."

"Err, yeah, but that doesn't matter." The brunette shyly smiled. "I don't mind following you two around. I can help out."

Michi nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Cool, then let's go!"

Now with a new teammate by her side, Mayari led the way, moving further into the unknown area. She moved straight into a small hallway which segmented to a large area, the epidemiologist hearing the echoing of her and her acquaintances' footsteps throughout the long path. They walked straight through the hallway and into the large area, finding themselves in the presence of what seemed to be a large chapel-like area.

Not that anyone was inside praying, Mayari noticing the boy who was inside of the area, eyeing the silver-looking cross that hung above the wall, then looking down at the podium and eyeing the area that was filled to the brim with all sorts of different colored flowers. It was rather calming to be in such an area, the epidemiologist admitted, though she wasn't overly religious herself.

 _I would guess Silvana would love to be here though._

The woman chuckled to herself and walked further inside, alerting the fluffy black-haired boy who flinched slightly and turned to look at her. It only caused his sharp dark red eyes to narrow as he took a look at them, frowning as he immediately interjected with a harsh, "Can you call out to me next time? You surprised me."

"Ah, sorry." Machi averted her gaze. She was looking about from place to place, obviously uneasy. "Um, I thought you went with the others?"

"I don't feel inclined to," the boy said, his voice obviously hinting to his age (similar to Keni's, Mayari deducted). He grumbled as he toyed with his pale green button up shirt and dark gray blazer. "Why are you even back here, and who are these guys?"

Mayari forced down her want to scream and smiled. "I'm Mayari Liu, and I'm the Ultimate Epidemiologist."

"Michi Uyeno." The cartoonist yawned. "... cartoonist."

The boy raised a brow as he eyed the duo, his flat-looking nose sniffing the air. He allowed his side swept bangs to tickle his sides, the raven looking straight down at his black dress pants and shoes. "Hmph, Jian Guo, Ultimate Physicist."

* * *

 **Jian Guo**

 **Ultimate Physicist**

* * *

 _Oh! Physicists!_ That also made the epidemiologist excited, though the attitude the boy was eluding ruined the rest of the excitement in her head. She just looked at Jian (who was only an inch or so taller) and continued to smile. "I'm guessing you and Machi already met?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter." The raven scoffed. "I left before she and the others noticed. I don't need to be around them if we're just going to mess around. I'd rather find a way out by myself."

Michi just blinked, unsure of what to even say. "Er, have you found one?"

"What does it look like?" Jian snapped. "Of course not. I only woke up a couple of minutes ago. I don't even know why I'm here."

"Riiiiiight." The capped Ultimate just averted their gaze. "Okay."

This only made the physicist annoyed further, narrowing his gaze. "For all I know, we've been kidnapped by someone for ransom. I can't just wait around here. I need to find a way to get out."

"Well, that's what we're all trying to do," Mayari mused, perky as she clapped her hands together. "Come with us. We're all going to plan a way to get out of here."

"That's so optimistic. I feel like it's better if I just work alone." Jian gagged. "Go where?"

The raven grinned. "Where the others are. We're all going to meet to talk about what to do from here."

"That's it?" The physicist crossed his arms, brow raised. "Is that really going to help any of us? Having more people just means having more of a risk of something just harming us all or leading into everyone arguing."

Machi was worried, playing with her hands. "Um… I'm sure everyone's going, and I don't want you to be left alone."

Jian was silent. He glanced up at Machi for a few seconds, then scoffed and averted his gaze. "You worry too much. It's silly."

"Not really." Mayari stepped into the fray, throwing out a small smile. "I mean, we just need to group together. I don't want to leave anyone behind if we manage to escape."

Michi nodded, scratching the back of their head. "Yeah. Everyone's going to meet up except for you if you don't come."

Toying with his fluffy black hair, the boy wasn't exactly sure what to say, an unsure look on his narrowing gaze. He looked down at his polished shoes before just scoffing, looking back at the group and huffing. "Fine."

"Cool!" Mayari chirped. "Do you want to head there now? We're just going to explore the rest of this place before heading back."

"I mean, it's nothing that special," the physicist murmured, sharp red eyes staring at Mayari's own eyes. "Down the hallways there's just the restrooms."

The woman shrugged. "Eh, still a good idea to check."

Jian just rolled his eyes. Seemed like he couldn't say no. "Yeah, whatever."

Mayari clapped her hands together. "Alright! Guess we're good to go then."

Not that the physicist had a choice, the raven just scoffing as he watched the trio beginning to walk away. He just groaned and followed suit, uncaring about the lack of fresh air in this dusty room.

* * *

And with that, this set of intros have been done! I only need to get through four more in the next chapter before I can get into the nitty gritty and formally introduce the killing game (which is kind of repetitive given how many times we had to go through the rules and formula of people freaking out over a killing game, though it is necessary)!

With that being said, I do have a little surprise upcoming, sooner or later. Do look forward to that, and I am working on AoD for anyone who reads that here! I'm like close to halfway in finishing that chapter at least, and I'm going to try to get started on the last set of intros for this story soon! Please look forward to that.

Here are some recommendations concerning Danganronpa SYOCs, for anyone who wants to submit characters!

 **Danganronpa: Remnants of my Heart** by Prince PokePersona

 **Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell** by Prince PokePersona

 **Danganronpa: The Monsters Within Us** by OceanAstro

 **Danganronpa: The World Beneath Us** by Rayy12

 **Dead Zeppelin** by Orlando Butler


	6. Diminuendo (Prologue)

Hello, and I am finally back with another update! It's been about a month and a few days since the last update, but hey, we're here! Since my semester had finally ended like, yesterday, I'm finally free to do much more than I usually did this year, hopefully! I'm finally here with the last set of intros, so that's great! Progress is being made! I don't really have much to say, so let's get straight into this!

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too:** "SCREAMS HELLO THERE TOBI."

 **Prince PokePersona:** "Heck yeah, welcome! And nice! Glad you like the characters that were introduced in the last few chapters! They're all amazing in their own way, haha. Yeah yeah, Mayari's the adventurous and more optimistic one in comparison to Michi. Nao's definitely a friendly girl, definitely someone who deserves love and care! Umaru is a bean, haha. Heck yeah, Joker styled OCs. Ray's amazing haha, I love him. Ice cream maker boy is amazing boy. Machi is definitely great! I love her, she's such a bean. Jian's a lil twerp, we love this sweetheart. Hahaha, not like Ayaka, huh? Babies. Heck yeah, thanks!"

 **Ziggymia123:** "Heck yeah she will! Our amazing Elodie! Haha, that's great! Glad that you like Ray and Machi, those two are amazing! And true! You're definitely right about that, haha!"

 **TheRoseShadow21:** "Hahaha, Ray's just amazing, glad a lot of people seem to like him, he's amazing. Devotion to ice cream! We shall praise Mr. Ray. Machi is definitely bean like! Protect her! We love her, haha."

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera:** "Heck yeah, hype! Low key people are great, they help balance and calm the situation down. Jian's amazing, he's adorable in his own way to me, haha. Heck yeah!"

* * *

 **BIG THANKS TO OUR BETA READER: Sharkeye!**

* * *

Walking into the last area provided Mayari with not even a speck of relief. As Jian said, they found it to be nothing more than the restrooms. Not even a door to the exit of the building was to be seen, the end of the hallway only having three doors that went to each designated restroom for the girls, the boys, and the non-binaries. It wasn't exactly much that piqued the woman's interest, but every last place searched must provide her some sort of entertainment, right?

Mayari scratched her head. Most likely not, especially concerning the contents inside a restroom. She scratched the back of her head and pointed to Machi. "Did you check already? I can go to the restroom myself."

The brunette nodded her head slowly. "Ah, yes, but I don't mind going with you. Err, if you're alright with that, of course."

"I mean, doesn't matter to me," the raven hummed, throwing her hands behind her back. "Not like we're going to be doing each other's makeup or shit."

Machi let out a small smile, fiddling her fingers. "You do have a point there." She pursed her lips, a sound of thinking escaping her breath. "Hm… I can go with you then."

"Great!" Mayari clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. Looking up at the tall woman, Mayari was more than pleased as she saw her acquaintance following her closer to the bathroom door. She placed a hand around the handle, and then made eye contact with Michi and Jian, squinting at them. "No peeking or you're dead."

Michi just yawned, unfazed. "Not going to do that. Also, Jian's too young to act so criminally."

"Young?! I'm only like fourteen!" the boy shouted, scowling at the cartoonist who looked to the side. Jian's face then turned red once he focused back on Mayari. "And don't take me lightly! It's obvious I wouldn't be so crude."

The raven simply smirked, amused. "Sure, Jian."

Michi rolled their eyes. They almost elbowed Mayari, but stopped themselves and instead said a smug, simple, "Cringe."

"Ugh, really? You two are so unbearably immature," the physicist retorted, although his cheeks were still slightly red. "Can we just hurry it up now? This is a serious situation here and I want nothing more than to just get out of here already. I'll report this situation to the cops."

 _I somehow doubt the cops would save us. It's not like we're trapped in here and could suddenly get saved like some cliched fucking Disney movie._ Though that was certainly something she'd love to see. To be proven wrong, specifically on that one thought, was something she was more than willing to see happen.

She opened the handle and walked inside, Machi following closely behind. The door went to a close as the raven inspected the sight, making mental notes in her head.

The bathroom looked as it usually does, though it seemed much more fitting for a hotel or rich outlet than for a hospital. There was a small rest station with black sofas and a glass table for people to rest in, possibly to wait for any stalls to be free. The stalls themselves were made out of marble and the doors were inked with intricate rose petal designs, though Mayari wasn't exactly certain she had any bright reason why she should walk further in. Only needing to scan the area for a couple of seconds, the woman was satisfied with what she saw. Nobody else was inside and she was fine with this, turning back to look at Machi.

"It's pretty, huh?" she began, making small talk. "Makes you wonder what exactly this place is, huh? A hospital with so much nice stuff around… it's more like a hotel or something."

"Ah? Well… yes, you do have a point." Machi nervously smiled, nodding her head. Her eyes were still averted elsewhere, refusing to stare at Mayari's. "I'm just not sure… Er, I mean, there's no exit here, so it's, umm, worrying."

Mayari's face hardened slightly, but she forced herself to smile. "True, but we'll be fine! The people I've met so far are all nice." Sans Nobuyuki and Hotaru, maybe even Jian right now. Not that the epidemiologist would admit that, of course. "People like Nao and Marge can help us out. They seem reliable."

"True…" The biochemist frowned. "Uh, Mayari?"

"Yeah?"

Machi held her breath. Her featherly hair was swaying from place to place, following her movements. "I just… I dunno, eh, was just wondering why we were, you know, here. I don't remember anything, so… yeah."

 _Oh, that makes sense._ Mayari completely understood her, nodding her head. She held her same worries, her same concerns. It did cause her head to ache slightly, heartbeat racing at a quicker rate than normal, but she knew better than to let that swallow her up. She refused to hinder herself, just throwing on a carefree smile and shaking her head, speaking in a lie, "We'll be fine, don't worry about it! We'll figure it out, I swear."

"I mean…" Machi wasn't exactly sure what to say next, frowning. "I guess you have a point. Er, I don't know. I was just a bit worried, that's all, yeah."

"Hey, it's alright!" The epidemiologist continued to smile, wide and bright. "We just need to think positive, that's all."

"Yeah, right." The biochemist nodded slowly. "Positive."

 _Hm, didn't think that actually worked, but she looks a bit calmer now at least._ Mayari brushed her fingers through her locks of black hair, thinking to herself. Her rhinestone eyes scanned the area for one last time, then focused back to Machi. She threw her another warm smile. "Let's just go back to Michi and the others. I'm pretty sure everyone's waiting for us."

Machi blinked. "Oh, er, right. Yeah, I'm fine with that."

With her affirmation, Mayari led the young woman straight back outside. It wasn't exactly a surprise to see Michi and Jian present (she figured they couldn't bother to check their own rooms, or, at least in the physicist's case, check again), so Mayari just threw them a nod and chuckled.

"Nope, nothing special."

"Not a surprise," the physicist grumbled, shaking his head. "We should hurry up and meet with the others. They might be gathered at the spot already."

"We're not even wasting that much time, hun. Calm down," the epidemiologist jabbed, playfully. She just chuckled at Jian's discretion and glanced over to Michi and Machi. "But he's right. We should get going now."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Finally."

 _Leeeet's ignore that._ And that was exactly the plan. She gestured to the other Ultimates to move, and they followed her, Mayari confident in making it all the way back to their wanted destination. They walked straight back where they came from, and while on the way over, Mayari instantly took notice of someone who was walking into the cafeteria. Their eyes met each other's, and the epidemiologist smiled. _Well, guess I haven't actually met everyone yet._

"Hey there!" she greeted, moving a little quicker so she could be in the person's vicinity. "I'm guessing you're lost like all of us here?"

The person in front of her was a light tan skinned woman who was about two inches taller than her, having long blue wavy hair that ended halfway down her back, curled tips and a right side parted fringe with short bangs framing the side of her face. The woman's bright purple and doll like eyes were staring straight at Mayari, her trimmed fingernails that were painted black with red hearts and diamonds with white spades and clubs toying with her bangs. The purple-eyed woman took a glance at Mayari for another few seconds, her black cat eyeliner painting her face, though her pink lips curled to a slight frown.

"Ah, yes, I didn't see you there," the blue-haired woman began, speaking in a rather distant tone of voice. "Judging from you and your acquaintances, you're in the same predicament such as myself, hm?"

Looking at the petite, doll-like woman, Mayari saw how she dressed. The woman was wearing a black sleeveless halter top with a transparent lace portion over the neck area, black collar and maroon ribbon bow tied. Observing down, the epidemiologist saw the pair of dark gray slim leggings that was paired with blue X's, red O's, green triangles, and pink squares patterned on the side. Her feet was secured with dark blue ribbon sandals, and it seemed like the blue-haired woman had plenty of accessories on hand: wearing a silver charm bracelet around the right wrist that had black and whtie chess pieces, a white gold gem watch around the left, a black headband, a thin silver necklace with a sapphire elephant pendant, etc.

 _Eep._ Mayari just looked up at the woman and nodded, clicking her heels together. "Yup yup, basically that's the case. I'm Mayari Liu, the Ultimate Epidemiologist."

"Michi Uyeno." A yawn. "Cartoonist."

Jian just sighed, shaking his head. "I'm Jian, Ultimate Physicist."

"Ah, my name is Machi." The biochemist bowed her head down politely, unsure of what else to do. "I'm, uh, the Ultimate Biochemist, yeah."

Mayari smiled at her group, then turned back to the blue haired woman who raised a brow. "Cool! And what about you?"

The woman frowned, brushing her hair away from her face. A slight scoff was all too present. "Huh. Right, name." She peered at the woman. "My name is Rebeka Kerekes, the Ultimate Ludologist. Is that all you need?"

* * *

 **Rebeka Kerekes**

 **Ultimate Ludologist**

* * *

"Er, not really." Mayari just awkwardly smiled, blinking. "We were all going to gather with the rest of the people trapped here, so I think it's great if you follow us."

Rebeka crossed her arms. "And what if I don't want to?"

 _Oh you must be kidding me._ The epidemiologist's face dropped. "I mean, it's probably better if you come with us. We're all stuck in the same situation."

"Not exactly a smart move, in my opinion, not that you'd care." The ludologist rolled her eyes, toying with the pendant around her neck. "How am I supposed to decide if you were truly trustworthy or not?"

Mayari was silent. She looked like she was ready to burst, but she held her composure, simply forcing herself to look at Rebeka and smile- even if that smile was forced. "You haven't met Ares then, have you?"

"Why does that matter?" Rebeka frowned. "A name is merely a name, nothing more. For all I know, you conspiring with whoever Ares refers to."

"Uh, Mayari? Should we…?" Machi threw the woman a concerned look, eyes fluttering.

 _No, no, I got this._ Though the woman didn't exactly say it out loud, she made sure to assure the biochemist. She turned back to the blue-haired woman and sighed, throwing her hands behind the back of her head. "Well, for all I know, you'll end up meeting Mr. Leech Killer, and the next time I find you, you'll be crying to me for help."

She smirked as she noticed Rebeka frowning. "So! Why don't you go with us and not be a literal brainlet? Could save you some years off your precious life, who knows."

"M-Mayari?!" Jian yelped in the background.

"Hm." Rebeka brushed back her locks of wavy hair, her purple doll eyes staring down at Mayari. There was a slight cold scowl in her tone as she retorted, "And why should I follow you when you insulted me?"

"It's called survival, hun." The woman rolled her eyes. "Haven't you heard of that? Everyone's going to meet us at the spot anyways, so you'll be left alone, lonely and all by yourself."

The ludologist only raised a brow. "You _really_ want me to chaperone you kids, huh?"

"You sound like the wannabe smart edgelord," the epidemiologist retorted in response, shrugging sarcastically. "But, your choice. If you die, don't blame me."

Rebeka only stared at the woman. A couple of seconds passed before she sighed, toying a bit with her pendant. "If that is what you truly want, then I'll partake in your childish idea for a while."

 _Haha, childish. Haha. Bitch._ Mayari just nodded and smiled through the pain. "Yeah, welcome to the team~"

The woman only rolled her eyes in return, murmuring, "Right. Pray tell, where are we heading then?"

Michi adjusted the cap around their head as they spoke, "It's close to the hallway. The therapy room or something."

"Hm, I see." Rebeka just raised a brow. She slowly pointed back from where she came from. "So we simply need to go back, right?"

"Uh, yeah." The cartoonist nodded.

The ludologist sighed and turned around. There was a slight look of disgust on her face as she spoke, "Then I shall lead you there."

"Oh." Mayari just frowned. The urge to step right in front of the woman and stop her was right over the edge, but seeing the worried look Machi threw at her, she quickly forced it down and just sighed. "Have you even been there before? Do you even know the way?"

"I've been searching around the area," Rebeka explained, not stopping in her tracks as she led the group away from the area. "Do you honestly believe that you're the only one who's seen everything? Quite the ego you have there, hm?"

The epidemiologist frowned. The only thing that was holding her back was the others who were eyeing her, concerned. This definitely was not going to her plan at all. "I only match who I'm talking to. If they deserve it, I'll give it."

 _Fuck. Why are there so many assholes here?_ She honestly had no idea why. _How hard is it to just… I don't know, smile for once in your life and go "fuck yeah i'mma help you out, sis!"?_

But she knew she couldn't just attack. If she were to suddenly break the supposed alliance between herself and the others, she'd end up breaking and ruining everything. While she had the urge to slap Rebeka, to yell even further at Jian, even have that sadistic little tinge that told her to act as the heroine and break up Nobuyuki and Hotaru's argument in a more, well, _vigilante_ manner, she knew she couldn't. She had an act to play, and that did not call for her breaking it right now.

 _Hmph. Or maybe that's just my anger speaking. But fuck, it'd be fun to knock those type of people down a peg or two._

Mayari scratched the back of her head and followed Rebeka straight into the area, easily passing the reception room yet again and back into the hallway. It seemed like the ludologist knew what she was doing, a confident stride in her steps as she brushed back her locks of wavy hair and walked straight into the hallway from the left, the others following suit. It was dim, like always, though Rebeka and the others' attention was grabbed when they saw a couple of people waiting outside the meeting room.

"Oh!" The epidemiologist immediately recognized them. "Keni! Shura! Is everyone here?"

Shura smiled once noticing the raven. It seemed like the armourer was carrying Keni over his back, the redhead giggling happily while holding onto his brown cat plushie, Kiki. It didn't look like the research participant had trouble over Shura's armor, even hugging the helmet on his head. "Lady Marge and Lady Nomi are still searching the area. Ah, we managed to bring most of the lovely civilians here, I believe. There's quite a lot of people here, hm?"

"Yeaaaah, there's a lot of them. It's kinda worrying." Mayari then noticed Rebeka who didn't exactly seem to care, just shaking her head and walking straight into the room. _Alright then._

"Most people are quite lovely though!" the armourer exclaimed, a jubilant tone in his voice. "Ah, right! I've had the pleasure of being reintroduced to the fair civilians I have met before! They're inside the room at this very moment."

The epidemiologist tried to remember what Shura told her a while ago, then snapped her fingers. "Oh! Their names were Elodie and Akira, right?"

"Ah, they're very nice! T-they were nice to me and Kiki!" Keni cried out, his innocent blue eyes peering right at Mayari. His smile widened upon noticing the others in the back. "Ah, there's more people here? I-it's nice to meet you all! My name is Keni, and I'm the Ultimate Research Participant!"

 _Oh, yeah, right, some of these guys haven't met each other yet. I should let them be then._ Mayari awkwardly scratched the back of her head, then turned to look at Michi and the others. "Um, hey, I'll go straight in. I'm going to introduce myself to the guys Shura mentioned."

"That's fine with me," Jian grumbled. He definitely seemed like he wasn't in the chit-chatty mood, not at all.

Mayari just smiled in response and waved to Shura and Keni, then making her way straight into the room. As expected, there were plenty of people inside, all of them the epidemiologist familiar with. She noticed Nao talking to Ray and Umaru from the corner, the basketball player waving at the epidemiologist who waved back. Silvana seemed to be doing her best to avoid Hotaru, though the stuntwoman didn't exactly seem to be doing anything at the moment. She even noticed Mazen who was acquantaincing himself with Mikoto and Rebeka, though it looked impossible at the moment.

 _Oh._ The epidemiologist noticed Nobuyuki who smirked at her and she quickly looked away, refusing to interact with the psychologist who was sending her chills down her spine. She quickly looked around for anyone else, then nodded once she noticed the two unfamiliar faces who were leaning against the wall, in the corner of the room. _They must be Akira and Elodie._

Observing the scene, the spiky red-haired man was most likely Akira, his gray-silvery sharp eyes shining in amusement as he looked at the red-haired woman. "Not sure, girl. This entire place is kinda dusty, so I'm coughing a _lot_ more than usual."

"It doesn't concern me in the slightest though. I'm much more concerned about you. I mean, didn't that man over there started to mock you…" The petite woman frowned, slightly perturbed. Her light green eyes slowly averted to the left, thus causing her to notice Mayari. "Ah, hello."

Having been shown, the woman easily moved into the group, waving with a warm smile. "Hey there! Well, Shura told me there were some faces I haven't seen before, soooo here I am. Just wanted to get to know you guys, that's all."

"Makes sense. Haven't exactly gotten to know a lot of people here either, so I'm in the same boat, haha. Oh, yeah, enough about me," Akira hummed, a relaxed grin on his face. "What's your name?"

The raven chuckled. "Mayari Liu, Ultimate Epidemiologist. Shura told me you two were Akira and Elodie?"

"Yup, you got it! Gold star for you, duu-duu-duu-duu~" The man twirled his hands about, like he was a conductor. He stopped and grinned, his lazy eyes somehow shining in mischief. "Name's Akira Akimoto, Ultimate Negotiator at your service! Anything you need handled, I'm your guy!"

* * *

 **Akira Akimoto**

 **Ultimate Negotiator**

* * *

Akira was a redhead that had somewhat pale skin, a slender type of build to him. His hair was styled in a spiky way, short to give him a sort of flair. His eyes, while almost lazy-looking to Mayari, was definitely alluding to some sort of mischief, though it was more playful than anything else. If anything else, it looked like the negotiator seemed friendly, his lips always curled to a laid back smile.

Clothing wise, the man was wearing nothing more than a gray hoodie that was over a red t-shirt. In the bottom, he was simply wearing blue jeans and sneakers. There was nothing too special about his attire, at all.

 _Well, he's definitely friendly, if that's anything to note._ Mayari smiled at him, then turned to Elodie. "And how about you?"

"Ah, of course." Elodie smiled politely, her ponytail swaying from side to side. "My name is Elodie Mallette, and I am the Ultimate Thanatologist. It is a pleasure to meet you."

* * *

 **Elodie Mallette**

 **Ultimate Thanatologist**

* * *

In contrast to Akira's more casual clothing, the pale skinned woman seemed to act the part as a formal, if not semi-formal, type of person. The petite redhead had her red hair pulled back into a loose and low ponytail that is tied with a skinny, white ribbon, causing the hair to reach to just her waist. Her bangs are tied into a braid that went diagonally across her forehead, feeding into her ponytail. Her eyes are hidden behind a pair of red, thick-framed glasses, making her look quite mature in response.

Clothing wise, she was wearing a black button down shirt that had short, puffy, elastic sleeves and a white collar. Her shirt had small golden dots that are in the shape of a skull, shirt tucked into her black, high waisted skirt that flew to her mid-thighs. The pattern of the black skirt had two gold bands, two inches thick which is along the top and six inches above the bottom. Underneath the second band are gold and blocky images of skulls, tombstones, and ghosts in an alternating pattern. Lastly, she was wearing black Mary Janes, finishing off her rather cute and semi-formal look.

Mayari couldn't help it, commenting on the woman's looks with a wide smile, "You look so cute, Elodie!"

"Ah, I do?" Elodie's face immediately turned pink, fingers toying with her skirt, rubbing against the cloth. Her soft spoken voice jumbled down into a murmur, "Um… thank you."

"Oh damn, you embarrassed her." Akira chuckled in return, rather amused. "You know, if you keep complimenting her, she'll end up exploding. She's easy to fluster."

"Ah, not exactly." The thanatologist shook her head. She was forcing herself to calm down, making a short and soft cough, clearing her throat. "I'm simply not used to the sudden compliments, that is all."

"You got flustered when that Nomi girl began talking about how pretty you are," the negotiator retorted, smirking. "I mean, if anything, you seem like the type who'd rather be somewhere else than here. It's gonna get crowded."

Mayari shrugged. "It's already kinda crowded right now."

"True!" Akira chuckled. He was bouncing from side to side, unfazed. "From how many are in here, there's like… hm, thirteen of us here now? Oh, excluding Shura and Keni, then there was that Marge and Nomi girls… oh, I think you were with other people too, huh? I heard you guys talking outside for a bit."

Elodie raised a brow. "Ah, like Machi and the others?"

"Ohhhh, right, Machi! And Jian too!" The negotiator laughed. "Kinda crazy how that works, huh?"

"Crazy?" Mayari crossed her arms. "What does that mean?"

"You're an epidemiologist, right? Studying the history of diseases and all that jazz. Elodie here's a thanatologist, studying death. Machi's a biochemist and then Jian's a physicist. Oh, and don't forget Keni, the cute little dude." Akira pointed a finger up, smirk still present on his face. "Doesn't that mean something? Especially since we're in a hospital?"

Elodie frowned, shaking her head slightly. "I mean… isn't Nao a basketball player? And some of the others, not to be rude or anything, Akira, but it doesn't really mean anything."

"Not at the moment, given we have literally _no_ idea where we are or why we're here." Akira tossed the hoodie over his head, jittery. "I'm only analyzing the situation here. If anything, I do have quite a hunch."

Mayari just awkwardly grinned. "You're a smartass, aren't you?"

"I guess that's common given I'm a negotiator. I need to analyze situations." He shrugged. "I don't know, but you can feel it too, right? That we're in some horrible situation and shit's gonna kick the fan. Is that even the saying?"

"I guess so." Elodie averted her gaze, now toying with her loose ponytail. She was running her fingers through it, eyes staring down at her black Mary Janes. "I would advise that we should prepare for the worse. I am… well, let me reword myself, sorry: I'm glad we seem to be getting somewhere, gathering here to discuss what to do."

"We'll be fine, don't worry your pretty head." Mayari smiled over at the thanatologist, almost forgetting the fact that the woman would blush yet again from the comment. The raven crossed her arms, forcing in a breath of air. "If we can't find a way out, we force our way out. We just need to work together, is all!"

The man clapped his hands together, grinning. "Right, right! You have a point there. I mean, it'd be crazy if we were stuck here like some PG-13 and up version of Scooby Doo. Us ragtag team of misfits, haha."

"We might be the worse version of Shaggy and the gang." The epidemiologist smirked. "But would we be worse than Riverdale?"

"Oooooh, good one! Haha, you get me, huh!" Akira laughed and immediately smacked the woman behind the back, amused.

"I see you all indulge yourselves in pop culture." Elodie politely smiled, though she seemed like she had nothing much to say, fiddling with her hands.

Mayari chuckled in amusement, nodding her head. "I wonder how many people are actually trapped here like us."

"Well, who knows? I guess it's whenever Marge and Nomi comes back, then I'm going to assume that's it." Akira shrugged, unfazed. "I doubt like a hundred or so of us are trapped here though."

"Can't be a hundred, not even fifty." Mayari shrugged. "I would've seen like over twenty of us by now if that's the case."

The epidemiologist then noticed a few more voices outside. She frowned as she listened in, ears perking up to Margaret and Nomi's voices. _Oh, they're back!_

Mayari turned over to Akira and Elodie, then pointed out the door. "I'm going to say hi to Marge and Nomi!"

The negotiator raised a brow. "Oh, they're back already?" He threw a glance over at Elodie, then shrugged. "Alrighty then. Good luck out there, Mayari."

Elodie smiled sweetly. "It was nice talking to you."

Mayari waved at them before making her way outside, easily stepping out of the door to find Margaret and Nomi talking to the others. She was about to speak to them, asking how they're doing, but her eyes instantly took notice of the tall man, over six feet tall (only seemingly an inch shorter than Nao).

The man was behind the two women, his narrow brown eyes (which told Mayari he was a mixture between Asian and European descent) peering down at the group. He obviously wasn't the friendly type, the dirty blond-haired man appearing with a slight scowl on his face. Relatively muscular, though not bulky (rather, he looked more skinny), the man with short, messy hair that was hidden with the black baseball hat he wore was just standing still, arms crossed. It looked like the man with a slight bit of stubble around his chin and upper lip wasn't in the mood for conversation, not bothering to spare the people's curious gazes.

 _Huh, looks like a farmer._ And he very much looked like a countryside type of person, the man wearing a red with light orange stripes flannel shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. The orange stripes are accented with thin white and black stripes, going nicely with his largely red shirt. On the bottom the man was wearing dark khaki cargo work pants, long black socks pulled up to his lower legs and hidden with his brown cowboy boots. Those boots had a vaquero top stitch, the toe stitching similar to the vaquero top stitching, pants tucked into his boots. To top this off, the man was wearing a black bandana with a white paisley pattern, tied around his left wrist.

To Mayari, he definitely screamed 'country boy' to her. While the slight scowl on his face deterred her from wanting to talk to him, it seemed like the group she was now with didn't hold the same feelings.

"Woah! Y-you look so cool! Ah, right, m-my name is Keni! Ultimate Clinical Research Participant!" Keni chirped, his innocent eyes staring up at the stubbled man. "H-how about you? Are you some kind of farmer or something? What's it like? Are there cute cows and lambs and… mm, are there also wolves?"

"You're certainly excited," Shura mused, looking over his back to eye the young boy.

The research participant just smiled widely. "Ah, well, I-I just haven't been around so many people! I just… hehe, I just want to be friends with all of them!"

"Gento, hun." Margaret looked over at the tall man and smiled. "Go introduce yourself to your acquaintances."

The man, named Gento, threw a rather annoyed look at the makeup historian, speaking in a gruff tone, "I don't want to."

"Where are your manners, young gentleman?" The makeup historian huffed, shaking her head. Her focus shifted over to Mayari, and her motherly smile was kept in place. "Hun, this is Gento."

"Right." Mayari figured she had to at least try, putting her hand out for a shake. "My name's Mayari, I'm an epidemiologist. How about you?"

"None of your fucking business," the blonde spat, rolling his eyes.

 _Oh god dammit._ The raven forced herself calm, though it was obvious she was now struggling. "You're cussing in front of some kids here."

"Exactly, darling." Margaret clicked her tongue, wagging her finger left and right. "Keni's around some… rather unique people."

"I don't care about these halfwits, not even you." Gento rolled his eyes, groaning. "You dragged me here through force."

"I mean, not exactly, nyan." Nomi coughed, getting the man's attention. "You really are one, uh, cat? Are cats even hardheaded? Oh well." She shrugged and tugged on some of her pastel pink strands of hair. "It's just a simple introduction, nya. Nothing too hard for a guy like you, right, right?"

"Not really." The tall man crossed his arms, raising a brow. His gaze slowly fell upon the biochemist who was still near Jian and Michi, shocking her slightly. "Some of you guys already know who I am anyways."

Machi awkwardly coughed, throwing a small smile at Margaret and the others. "Ah, yeah, that's Gento Amatatsu-Tyne. He's, er, the Ultimate Ranch Hand, yeah."

* * *

 **Gento Amatatsu-Tyne**

 **Ultimate Ranch Hand**

* * *

"Hello, Big Bro Gento-san! And, erm… Oh, Ranch Hand?" Keni's eyes immediately sparkled. He easily jumped off of Shura, almost too abruptly and loud for everyone's taste, though he didn't seem bothered or fazed as he looked up at the blonde, slightly hiding his face behind his plushie. "W-what's that like? Kiki and I wanna know!"

Gento wasn't amused, just scoffing. "How the hell do you not know, kid? Ranch hands help around the ranch, basically. Are you dim?"

The boy tilted his head, registering what the taller man said. "Ah… hm…"

"Please do not speak like that to him!" Shura cried out, putting a defensive hand over Keni, the redhead blinking in a mixture of worry and confusion. "It is quite rude, Sir."

"We should all calm down and not have a cow. Shura, dearie, I am sure Gento doesn't know what his damage is," Margaret spoke as she stepped into the scene, speaking with her usual old slang terms.

Mayari just scratched the back of her head. She threw a look at Jian who was murmuring something to himself, then at Michi who looked like they weren't exactly sure what to say. Nomi didn't seem to have any trouble eyeing the situation at hand, though the epidemiologist figured she herself shouldn't try to step in. It would cause more ruckus, she figured.

"I don't really fucking care." The blonde rolled his eyes and just kept his arms folded. "Can we just get a move on already? This is so pointless."

Shura frowned. "Excuse me, it's not pointless!"

Gento huffed, not responding in return.

Michi just shrugged. "Whatever works. That's fine with me."

 _Fine with me as well. I'm in the mood to punch something._ But Mayari, of course, didn't express it, just nodding her head at the group. "Yeah. Marge, you're going to help lead, right?"

"Ah, of course. I'd love to, hun." The historian smiled calmly, nodding her head. "We all need to work together."

 _Kinda doubting everyone will cooperate, hun, but I guess I should look on the bright side. Yeah._ She just nodded. "Cool, cool, guess we'll work on that then. Everyone's here anyways, right?"

Nomi threw the raven a peace sign. "Yes, nyan! We have found everyone we could, did a whole back and forth too. We expect you did the same, nyan!"

"Yeah, I did, don't worry about that." Mayari just goofily smiled in return, ignoring Gento who just bumped into her and walked into the room without a care in the world. Her expression stiffened however. "Wait, another thing: you haven't seen that Ares guy around that much either since then, right? Like, nowhere?"

"Oh, that guy?" The pet detective shook her head. "Nope, nada, zero. Me and Marge couldn't find him, nyan."

"Um, sorry, excuse me," Machi began, "but who's that?"

"Just an asshole," Mayari answered, ignoring the looks Margaret and Shura threw her. "Killed a leech for some reason. Guessing it's because Marge chased Michi around."

Jian raised a brow. "What, there's leeches here? The hell?"

Michi forced out a cough, just quickly pulling down on their cap and mumbling a nervous, "Don't ask me."

"I mean, it doesn't really matter now." The epidemiologist shook her head. _I don't think any of us wants to be around that Ares guy anyways. Was he even the one who gave me that letter in the first place? Hmm…_

She sighed. "Let's just get in and do this already. Everyone's probably waiting for something to happen anyways."

"Oh! Ah, yes, of course!" Shura immediately nodded, holding his head up high. "Let us walk in! After you, fair maidens and gentlemen."

Everyone seemed to be settled in, all having the same goal. Margaret led Keni inside, the young boy just pleased to be around so many people. Jian just walked straight by without a care, Machi and Michi following close by. Nomi was next to move, seemingly in thought, though that was quickly erased as she greeted everyone who were inside. That left Mayari with Shura, the armourer obviously waiting for her to walk inside.

"Ah, Miss Mayari, are you alright?" The man made a small chuckle, his smile wide as always. "It's strange to think that you're still out here, especially when you wanted everyone to walk inside."

Mayari glanced over at him, then threw him a smile in return. "What if I'm waiting for you to get inside instead, _Sir_?"

"Oh!" Shura was caught off guard, especially with the emphasis on 'sir', making his face slightly red. He cleared his throat, then quickly put his hands to his hips. "Hah! A knight in shining armor such as myself would never lose his manners. This is nothing but common decency, my fair Mayari!"

"Pfft. I know, I know, I'm joking." The epidemiologist laughed, amused. "I was just thinking for a bit."

Shura cocked his head to the side, eyebrows raised. "Ah, then that's something to talk about. Ahem, right. What's the issue here, ma'am?"

Mayari awkwardly chuckled. "Well-"

"I do not think the issue matters here."

An unfamiliar voice. Mayari's head whipped forward in sync to Shura's, the duo suddenly finding themselves staring at a few people, most of whom were unknown to her.

There was Ares, and then there were two people, a man and woman respectively.

And let it be said, those expressions of utter apathy and bemusement meant trouble for Mayari and the others, she knew.

* * *

... Like always, I do not exactly have much to say other than: what do you think of the characters so far? Hopefully I'm writing them well! I really love all of the characters here, so it's fun to be able to write their intros! Of course, that only means we're getting closer to the killing game announcement, and to the actual killing game in general... EEEE, FEAR.

Nonetheless, I hope I will be able to update the next chapter soon! Look out for that!

Anyways, here are some SYOC Recommendations as always!

 **Danganronpa: Etch it Into my Heart** by RioA (yay!)

 **Danganronpa: Remnants of my Heart** by Prince PokePersona

 **Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell** by Prince PokePersona

 **Danganronpa: The World Beneath Us** by Rayy12

 **Dead Zeppelin** by Orlando Butler


	7. Coda (Prologue)

I'm back with yet again another chapter, and the end of the Prologue, hell yeah! That's exciting to me, haha, since that obviously means we can get into the meat of things. Getting through characters was quite a bit of work, especially since I like to give them time to shine and all that fancy jazz, but I'm still alive and kicking, so heck yeah! Well, I don't have much to say here, so let's get into the meat of the story here!

 **Ziggymia123:** "Elodie's adorable, I really love her, haha. Aww, if only Elodie wasn't in a killing game, then we can just have happy times without suffering :D Haha, there's a lot of options, yeah!"

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera:** "Yeah, new chapter there, and new chapter here! Jian's such an edgy twerp, but I still love him, haha. Yessss, there's a lot of antagonistic people, and then we have beans! Killing games are scary :0 I'd definitely be scared XD"

 **Prince PokePersona:** "Heck yeah, another chapter, and intros are finally done! Took ten years XD I love character interactions, and group dynamics are always fun, haha. Rebeka will be a great person who will make all the friends in the story, totes ;) Mayari definitely doesn't like it when people try to push her buttons or oppose her, oof. Haha, yup, sounds like Akira alright XD Riverdale makes me scream. Elodie's definitely precious and deserves some love! Haha, that's Gento alright, and I love his getup, it's much more different than what a lot of the other peeps here wear, haha. Heck yeah, peeps! Lmao, maybe, who knows ;)"

 **TheRoseShadow21:** "Yeah, Elodie is such a bean! She's so cute :D And true, the beans balance out the assholes XD, and thanks as always :D!"

* * *

Looking ahead, Mayari wasn't the least bit pleased to see the people in front of her. She had recognized Ares, of course, the black-haired man behind the mask grunting and grumbling to himself. The epidemiologist had the urge to slap and mock him for his presence, but the instinct she was feeling, getting from the people next to Ares screamed at her to not dare try- if she were, she would expect herself to suffer, her gut screamed.

"I assume you are Mayari and Shura respectively, correct? Epidemiologist and armourer?"

Mayari frowned, the person who had spoken to them being the woman to the side. It was a woman with alluring dark pink eyes and blond hair, wavy and reaching down her back. Evenly swept bangs, the woman had a beautiful and attractive figure, though slightly gaudy with lipstick and eyeliner present on her blushing face. To the epidemiologist, the woman screamed to her as a wannabe makeup guru, but decided against vocalizing her thoughts.

Nonetheless, the woman wasn't wearing a mask like Ares was, though she had resorted to wearing a midnight black unbuttoned coat over a 50s styled black solid dress that reached to just halfway above her knees. Under her dress was her pair of peach colored stockings, and then her knee high pair of combat boots. It was a rather strange design, though Mayari took more focus on the crown over her head- the crown that was built from bones and skulls; that, and the strange voodoo skull staff she was holding around her left hand.

 _A lover of death… but I'm pretty damn sure Elodie wouldn't like her._ The raven coughed silently to herself, forcing her body to calm as she asked as politely as possible, "Yeah, you're right. Why?"

"Lovely." The woman clapped her hands together, a warm smile on her lips. She turned to her acquaintances and chuckled. "It seems we've met the rats."

"Exactly, they're absolutely _lovely_ ," Ares replied, harshly sarcastic in tone. He pointed a finger at Mayari and Shura, eyebrows furrowed. "Any funny business you're planning, and I'll swiftly destroy you. I won't hesitate."

"Funny business?" The armourer was caught off guard, blinking a couple of times before pursing his lips downwards into a frown. "Can we assume you defiant evildoers are the ones who've trapped us here?"

His tone was harsh and obviously enraged, but from his movements, Mayari knew Shura wasn't planning to outright attack the lion masked man. That would be foolish, she knew, her lips tucked in, cheeks sucked inwards. She forced herself to not retort, to not immediately defy and cause a scene without judging her supposed opponents first.

"Evildoers?" Ares' voice increasingly became growly. "In your fantasy, yeah, you can consider that. In reality? We are far from it, you wannabe hero."

"Aish! There there, let's not scare the little rats." The blonde placed a hand on the man's shoulder, calming him down with a reassuring smile. "You're only going to make them fight against us if you try to hurt them."

The black-haired man grumbled, stepping back, "They wouldn't even be able to win anyways, you dunce."

"Hm. Of course not, but still." The woman chuckled to herself, bringing back locks of her hair as she stepped forward, smiling sweetly at the two teenagers. "Why don't we head inside? I'm sure your friends are wondering what is happening, right?"

"Ah, well, um…" Shura bit into his lips; he threw a worrisome look at Mayari. "I suppose so, right, milady?"

The raven only frowned in response, murmuring in an uneasy tone, "I guess so."

"Lovely, my dear rats. Let us not waste time now." The blonde immediately stepped forward, heading into the room. She had no care in the world, no worries when Mayari and Shura threw her uneasy, bothered looks.

And it branched out to Ares and his companion, the masked man grumbling and cussing angrily under his breath as he walked inside. That left the unknown man standing there, waiting for the supposed two 'rats' to enter into the room.

Well, not that they had any choice, the epidemiologist stepping forward with Shura taking a look at the unknown man suspiciously.

It didn't come as a surprise to Mayari when she saw the looks of utter confusion, shock, and horror on her companions' faces. Ares was a known figure to some, but if not, then it was obvious he wasn't an ally. The blond woman herself wasn't a huge threat at first glance, though her uncanny smile and decorations on herself made it obvious she wasn't an ally either.

And the epidemiologist knew the unknown third person wasn't an ally, he was an enemy. She pursed her lips and silently stepped to the side, near Silvana and now Shura who was putting a defensive stance in the front, seemingly protecting Keni who was unsure of what was happening, the redhead hugging his plushie.

"Um, excuse me," Hotaru was the first to respond, narrowing her gaze at the strange figures. "Who the fuck are you people?"

Nomi cleared her throat, gazing upon the masked man. "Well… the fellow lad over there is Ares, nya. Not sure about the other two."

"Can you shut the hell up?" Ares snapped, throwing a look at the pet detective who just put her hands up and stepped back. That didn't matter though, the raven grumbling underneath his breath before speaking loudly, stepping forward. "We're not here to play games, you hopeless cretins. Let's make it clear, okay? My name is Ares, and I'm here with the others to explain the situation which, well: yeah, you're fucking trapped in here, good job for putting two and two together."

"Trapped?" Akira couldn't help but frown, crossing his arms. "No way. Shouldn't there be a way to escape?"

"Pfft, you wish, dreamer." The masked man snorted. "Like I said, you are all stuck here. There is no way to escape, and I would advise you to not even dare try. You can't break through the walls. It's impossible, and even if you do escape…" He smirked. "Good luck with that."

"Aw, hell no!" Hotaru immediately stepped forward, eyebrows furrowed and voice growly. Her hands were clenched to fists, lips quivering. "So what? You're the assholes who've trapped us here? What the fuck are you planning?!"

Ares only crossed his arms. "Just about what you expect, fucker."

"Oh, hell no-"

"Honey, I'd advise you not to try hurting them." The blonde suddenly stepped forward, lips curled to a sweet and honeyed smile. She looked over at the stuntwoman and bowed her head down, polite as she spoke, "My name is Libitina, it is a pleasure to finally meet you rats."

* * *

 **Libitina**

* * *

"Libitina…" Michi couldn't help but frown, tugging at their sleeves.

"Rats?" Mazen was not pleased with the title, biting into his lips. "Why are you calling us that, miss?"

Nobuyuki just heaved a cackle, grinning in amusement. He hopped over to Libitina who kept her smile plastered on and stepped back, the psychologist observing her every movement. "You guys are our guards, right? Did we do something wrong to warrant our stay here? Are we actually serial killers?!"

Umaru nervously glanced at the man. "I-I don't think it's a good idea to get so close to her…"

Though, the psychologist didn't care, just continuing to chatter at the woman who was silent now, eyes staring straight into his. "Maybe it's because we're crazy?! Deranged in the heads?! Whatcha think, Libitina?"

"Hmmm? What I think?" Libitina blinked. "Please step to the side, you rat. I do not want to feel your breath against my face, ever."

Nobuyuki was caught off guard, though that one second of pure ice frozen expression turned into amusement as he faux gasped, reeling his head back and swooning. "Woah! Feisty girl you are~ Alrighty then, princess."

And the blue-haired man stepped to the side, allowing Libitina to clear her throat and speak, "Well, with that out of the way, I'd like to explain what will be going on, rats." The blonde was distracted though, quickly turning her head to the back where the unknown third individual was. "Ah, before that, you should introduce yourself, Pax. Why are you still standing there?"

The individual, Pax, was a young man who looked to be in his late twenties, similarly to Libitina (if looks weren't to be deceiving). Ice cold blue eyes looked through a golden butterfly masquerade mask, the wing on the left side, styled with black glitter patterns and gems. For his hair, it was the color of garret, his slightly messy hair tied into a loose and braid that went down midway his back; for bangs, it was gelled back to create a slick style, however swept to the left and covering where his eyebrow would've been. Taller than Libitina and Ares, it came off as a surprise that his presence wasn't all too noticeable.

Clothing wise, Pax wasn't anything short of creative himself. Wearing a dark green dress shirt with black suspenders, the suspenders, while used to connect themselves to the black belt that hoisted Pax's dark brown pants (which were tucked under black ankle-high boots), held up a cape which had the printing of morpho butterfly wings, all the way to the bottom of the floor. The cape itself wasn't its usual shape, instead seemingly to be two separate parts which connected into one, looking like wings themselves. They seemed to be made out of soft fabric, Mayari judged, then noting the ankle-high boots which were splattered with prints of monarch and swallowtail butterflies.

"... Right." The braided man coughed, taking a small step forward. His eyes peered over to the captives, lips pursed. "My name is Pax. I'm also in charge of watching over you rats."

* * *

 **Pax**

* * *

"Does every one of you call us rats?" Rekeba called out, eyebrows furrowed. She was clearly displeased, tapping her foot against the floor. "You are clearly trying to degrade us."

"More like dehumanize," Mikoto grumbled underneath her breath. Her eyes were averted to the side.

"It's because you guys _are_ rats," Ares snapped, glaring angrily. "So shut your damn mouths."

Umaru couldn't help but shake his head, eyes staring at the man in a mixture of shock and worry. "I don't really think you should be so rude? I mean, it's just-"

"Ssh." Nao immediately shook her head, especially when she saw how Ares shot a look at the composer.

"With introductions out of the way, let us explain ourselves." Libitina looked over the group, dark pink eyes shining brightly. With the staff she held on her hand, she pounded it to the ground, tapping it a couple of times. "You rats are stuck in this place, whether you believe it just or not. In fact-" she smiled, "-you all signed up for this in the first place."

Ares held a finger up, silencing those who were obviously going to cry out in concern. "Even if you don't believe you signed up for this, the reality is you fucking did. You rats all signed up to be a part of this, just because of your innate selfishness. To become the Savior for the Holy Sanctuary? Yeah, I doubt any of you could become the Savior."

Mayari couldn't handle this. Nothing was making sense to her, yet she pieced a simple fact together- that they were trapped within this spacious, dark hospital. "The hell are you saying? Holy Sanctuary? Savior?"

"Terminology, don't you get it?" Ares rolled his eyes. "You sinful rats signed up for this game just so you can become a Lord, a dumb, fucking Savior. What's more to explain?"

The blonde turned to her friend, moving over to place a hand on his shoulder. Supposedly to calm him, her smile was as uncanny as ever. "Well, in my opinion, I find it cute that you all decided to sign up for this type of game. Being trapped here and forced to kill each other, it's cute, really."

"W-wait a second, please." Silvana couldn't help but speak, even when her face was pale and her voice was much more soft spoken than ever. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"Killing, of course." The woman chuckled. "You rats have signed up for a killing game."

"Is this a joke?" Jian spoke out, his eyes staring over at Libitina, shock all over his face. The small boy clenched his fists, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. "You must be joking with us, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" Michi just laughed nervously, scratching the back of their head. This almost caused their cap to loosen and fall to the floor. "This must be some sort of sick prank, right?"

"Of course not." Libitina tilted her head, blinking a couple of times. "Ah, but the game will not be conducted in a battle royale type of fashion, darlings."

Ares just kept his calm now, arms crossed. The shoulder rubs the blonde was currently giving him seemed to comfort him perfectly well. "Nope, the experiment you dumbasses are partaking in will be much more difficult."

"But that's… no, a killing game?" Margaret's face was that of utter frustration. It was increasing more and more, her movements becoming more frantic as she placed a hand to her head. "There's… you lovely people are merely jesting!"

"Game…" Keni was silent in thought, having held onto the makeup historian's hand before paranoia took over her. His arms cuddling his plushie, the redhead kept his focus down at the floor. "Mmm…"

"Haha, _very_ funny." Hotaru rolled her eyes, her chocolate-colored hair swaying about to her movements as she pumped her fists out. "You guys are spewing such bullshit right now! Killing game? Psssh! Besides, what could be harder than fucking going at each other's throats?"

"We have a set of rules you lovely rats have to follow," Libitina explained, indifferent to the frustration and anger emitting around the area. "Ah, but we won't tell them right now. Those are in the wristwatches we have made for you all individually."

Mayari was caught off guard. "Huh?"

Elodie crossed her arms, slowly stepping to the back, resting her own body against the wall. "Wristwatch?"

"They'll explain everything," the woman continued. "There is a wristwatch assigned to each of you in your wards. You can get them all later and mess around with them. There are multiple functions that will ensure you rats of both for necessity purposes and entertainment: a chat room where you can message just about anyone and everyone, a map of this place, a few games you can play, and some other stuff. The most important thing you should note when we release you all are the rules of the place."

Ares snorted, kicking his foot against the ground. "The killing game is the most important shit you should worry about. It's the entire reason you all signed up."

Akira just threw his hands over the back of his head, smiling rather mischievously at his captives, even if it was to either mask his worry or to mock them. "To become a Savior, you said? So, what? We all have to kill each other? But you said it's not a battle royale type of setting, so what's the mechanism here?"

"Trials, basically." The blonde twirled her staff around, as if it were a baton. "You kill someone, but you have to do it inconspicuously. If you are caught, then it's game over."

"There's no way you're being real with us right now, nyah." Nomi clenched her fists, heat rising to her face. "You're messing with us."

Ray placed his hand up, garnering the woman's attention. "Why would we kill though? You're giving us no reason to kill in that case."

"Oh, that's fucking easy." Ares snorted, amusement spread across his lips. "Becoming a Savior means you can get out of here, scot-free. Remember? This is a fucking experiment, and being a Savior gives you every right to do anything, even escape from this place and move to the Holy Sanctuary."

 _So being a Savior means you escaping? And Holy Sanctuary… is that the outside world?_ Mayari wasn't sure, thinking to herself. Her eyes slowly looked over to Shura, noting the man's worry and shock that was struck across his face.

"Why would you let us escape though?" the ice cream maker asked, staring at Ares suspiciously. "This is utterly unethical."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." The masked man placed his hands to his hips, head cocked to the side. "Remember? You all signed up for this, to fight to become Savior? Why would we be concerned if we freely let the Savior leave to freedom? This is completely ethical, a fucking experiment that goes under surveillance."

"Why would… there's no way." Elodie shook her head, biting into her bottom lip. "So, one of us kills, and then play a game of trial? Just to earn the title of Savior?"

"Yeah, that's how selfish you rats are." Ares laughed, entertained as he eyed the basketball player's frustration. "You only have yourselves to blame."

"There's no way this is ethical," Jian grumbled, shaking his head. "Even if it is, what purpose is there to murder? How does one get results from _murder_?"

"Not my fault you all signed up for this," the masked man snapped.

Mayari felt heat rising up to her head. Her veins were pumping, full of blood and adrenaline. She couldn't believe this. She just couldn't believe this. Was she hearing things correctly? Was she in reality?

Did that even matter at the moment? The epidemiologist was sure it did to others, but to her it didn't matter, not at all. Her head was aching. She clenched her fists and stepped forward, her green eyes shooting a glare straight at the older individuals, heart throbbing. That frustration which was building up inside her was overwhelming her, and even when she heard from multiple people in her past that she needed to calm herself down, how can she in such a situation? She couldn't, gritting her teeth.

"You guys are liars!" she snapped, pointing fingers at them. "Why would we kill? Why would we sign up for this? You guys are just trying to scare us, and I don't appreciate this! Making fun of us and trying to make us 'kill' each other? Are you crazy?!"

"M-Mayari…" Machi's voice was audible, but barely to the woman.

Mayari felt her hands clenching to fists, fingernails digging into her soft skin. She couldn't care less about the stinging pain or if she was going to bleed, her focus entirely directed to the individuals in front of her. "We're fucking teenagers! Why would it be ethical for teenagers to fucking kill each other and die?!"

"The fuck's with you, bitch?" Ares stepped forward, looking down on the woman. His voice was growly as always, fingers beginning to flex and move about from his sides. "You want to fight?"

The epidemiologist threw a look at him and smirked dryly. "My tiny ass can kick you're fucking dick in. Want to see me do it?"

The masked man clenched his fist in and swung. "Bitch!"

"L-Lady Mayari!" Shura quickly stepped forward and grabbed the woman's arm, pulling her back. She was forced out of the man's swing, only by a few hairs. "Careful! Don't aggravate them!"

"You utter buffoon," Rebeka can be heard sighing, shaking her head. She threw a harsh look at the epidemiologist before looking over to Ares. "Don't hurt us. You want us to murder each other, right? Not hurt you guys."

"Hmmm, don't know about that!" Nobuyuki chirped, clapping his hands together and stepping forward, now moving towards Ares' face. "You look like you actually wanna kill us or something~ Do you?"

"Nobuyuki!" Nomi shouted. Anger was clear on her face. "Stop that!"

"Yeah, because you don't see me as a threat?" Ares rolled his eyes, suddenly slipping a dagger from behind and pointing it close to the psychologist's neck. "Move closer and I'll make sure you can't fucking speak."

That only caused the psychologist to smile some more, nodding. "Oooh, please do~ I doubt you'd be that cruel."

"Hey!" Nao cried out, shaking her head. "Oh my god, seriously, just back off already!"

"Fucking hell. You're such a masochistic brainlet," Hotaru grumbled. She moved forward and instantly grabbed the tall man's collar, forcing him back with a shove.

Ares snorted and slung the dagger easily back to where it used to be, just now resorting to crossing his arms and eyeing the group of people. "Even if you do manage to hurt one of us, you insolent rats, you cannot escape."

The stuntwoman rolled her eyes, wavy hair swaying her to her careless movements as she flipped off the raven. "Alright, we get it, now stop spewing your bullshit."

"Jesus Christ," Mazen mumbled, nervously laughing.

"Please do not waste anymore of your energy," Libitina continued again, smiling sweetly. She tapped her staff against the floor, getting the supposed rats' undivided attention. "We will be running on a schedule, after all. It will be stated in your wristwatches, but please keep in mind that daytime will be 6 AM and nighttime will be 9 PM."

"You must be kidding me right now, nyah," the pet detective spewed, eyebrows furrowed. "This is just… it's outrageous!"

"Seriously?" Gento grunted. "Do we _have to_ run on a schedule?"

"It will help keep you all on a routine and make you feel right at home," she mused. "While we want you all to partake in a killing game, we do want you all to feel at home. You rats are fighting to become Savior, and it will be unjust for us to not tend to our potential Savior's needs, correct?"

Nao gulped, rubbing her wrists and pacing about to herself, anxious. "That's... I suppose so…"

Ares cracked his knuckles. He stepped to the side, close to the doorway now. Pointing at the group, he spoke for one last time, "I would advise you rats to wear your watches before you forget. Your wards will have your nameplates there so you know where to go, how great. Pax fucking did the work," before leaving.

That caused Libitina's smile to further deepen (definitely serving to frighten Mayari more), and she moved over to eye Pax, the braided man just averting his gaze. She chuckled and turned to the group, bowing her head down. "It's almost nighttime. I'd advise you all to tuck yourselves in bed and sleep. It's been a long day, hm?"

"Doesn't mean we'll immediately go murder each other," Mayari snarked, frowning.

The blonde didn't say anything in return, just motioning for her friend to follow. With a knowing glance from the said man, the duo easily made their way out of the room, immediately leaving the group in their misery.

Even when the threats had left, the room was still ambivalent: a mixture of feelings that collided between trust and distrust; around the room were people that some were familiar to, others strangers or mere acquaintances to. Even if some were to believe that their wardens' words held truth to their harsh words, the damage had already been done. The seed of distrust was there, and the uncertainty was going to shine through, to unravel and spread throughout the rooms, into the hearts of those around.

"This is nothing but nonsense, don't worry about it, kiddos," Nomi began, immediately trying to break the tension, taking off her cap and toying with it, twirling it about. "I'm sure they're just saying this to scare us, nyah."

"Yeah, the fair lady is right!" Shura cried out, stepping forward and smiling. "There is no way they were being truthful to their words! This is nothing more than a ploy to scare us into submission!"

"Yeah, definitely." Mazen nodded in agreement. "Why would we kill each other anyways? We barely know each other that well."

Mikoto only grumbled, "Happy go lucky bastards."

"Ah, uhm, Big Brother Shura?" The clinical research participant tugged on the armourer's hand, looking up with his sparkly eyes.

The mentioned individual smiled sweetly. "Yeah, what do you need, young man?"

"How do we play this, erm, game? It sounds like fun!"

The room, once again, went silent.

"Oh, no, Keni." Margaret immediately walked over to the boy, patting his head. It seemed like she wasn't exactly sure what to say, only smiling nervously (and with blown out paranoia) at him.

Mazen averted his gaze. "Should we…? I don't know, should we really?"

"I mean…" Silvana wasn't exactly sure what to say either, her breaths shaky. "I'm not sure. Is it better if he doesn't know?"

"Oh my god, seriously? He's not that young," Jian grumbled, glaring at everyone who spoke. "Even toddlers have a better grasp at the word 'kill'."

"I mean, judging from what the lad said, he probably wasn't registering what the wards said fully," Gento murmured, dismissive to the situation.

Ray simply frowned, glancing over to the redhead. "Keni, do you know what the concept of killing entails? It's not a game, they said we're being forced to play a 'killing game'."

"Ah? Oh… Um…" He hugged his plushie tightly, thinking to himself. A couple of seconds passed before he smiled again, looking at the ice cream maker with an expectant expression. "That's not, erm, right. The 'killing' part is fake… why would they put game and killing together?"

Well, that was a relief to Mayari, the epidemiologist reassured with the knowledge that the redhead knew what the concept of killing meant. She forced a smile over at the boy, hands to her hips. "It's alright, they're just pulling a distasteful prank on us. No one here would kill, so don't worry about it!"

"Mmm… yeah! Besides, only bad people kill," the boy had mumbled, his hand reaching back to hold onto Shura's. "None of us are bad people."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Shura replied, smiling as comfortably as he could. "None of us would hurt one another. It's us versus them."

Rebeka just scoffed, brushing parts of hair back. "This is such a waste of my time. How aggravating."

"Don't worry about it," Nao began, stepping forward to the group. "No one is going to kill one another, and even if they say there's no way to escape, we can't just give up now. They're just trying to make us forfeit."

Umaru immediately bobbed his head, twirling a fake baton around. "Mhm~! So don't worry about it, Nao's absolutely right! We just need to find a way to get out of here."

"Mhm," Machi agreed, fiddling about with her fingers. "As long as we're safe…"

"It's obviously not a joke though, so I think we have to take this seriously, at least in regards to the wards," Akira began, shutting down the excitement with a slight frown. That frown, however, exchanged into a carefree smile, as if he was attempting to lighten both everyone's and his own mood. "Judging from some of the people here, I really don't think a lot of us are on the same wavelength."

Rebeka scoffed. "Concerning the foolish game of utter nonsense? That's a given."

The negotiator snapped a finger. "Exactly the point, Watson." He ignored the disgust that was present on the woman's face. "The idea of individuality and creativity aside, I doubt we're all thinking the same thing, or have the same idea."

The composer blinked, baffled as his nose wrinkled. "Ah, so you don't think we should escape?"

"Not what he's saying. In my opinion, the kiddo does have a point." Nomi pushed forward, slapping the cap back to her head. "I don't think it's wise for us to just mindlessly fight back and look for a way out. That Ares lad almost sliced Nobuyuki's neck open, nyah."

Hotaru snorted, rolling her eyes. "He's the one who initiated it, so you can't really use him as your example, cat lady."

"Nyeahaha! Really, why not?" Nobuyuki cackled, grinning widely. "If anything, I was doing you all a favor!"

"You're a literal gremlin," the stuntwoman snapped, eyebrows furrowed. "Can you shut the fuck up? You're not helping us here."

The psychologist gasped. "How cruel! What are you, the heroine?" He chortled and bounced mindlessly, reveling in the looks people threw at him. "Come on, we're literally doing the world a favor."

"The hell?" Jian's eyes had completely widened, his voice falling into a breathless gasp. Anxiety was running through his body, his lips pursed. "From killing? This is literally _unethical_!"

"Yeah, I know, you already said that, but it's not unethical! We signed up for this!" He smirked. "You're not even a researcher, just, what, a lowly physicist?"

The boy gritted his teeth. "You have no right to say that!"

"Hey, hey!" Nao pushed herself between the duo, forcing them back. Her eyes darted between the two Ultimates, though her harshness was obviously directed at the perpetrator. "Let's not do this right now, okay? Nobuyuki, what _is wrong_ with you? Why are you saying all these things?"

"Oh my god, you're blaming me?" The indigo-haired man gasped once again. "How cruel! Are you triggered or something? Hmmm, are you?"

"W-what? No, seriously, stop messing around!" The basketball player frowned, eyebrows furrowed. "You're just trying to make us worry! Do you _want_ us to play this 'killing game' or something?"

That caused the man to smile. "Oh! Yeah, I do."

"Please stop that nonsensical talk!" Shura cried out, pointing accusingly at the man. "It is not doing us any favor! This is serious!"

"Oooooh~! I can tell you're about to cry! What a loser!" Nobuyuki laughed, bouncing in place. "Geez, you're all so soft! Snowflakes, all of you!"

"I-I am not going to cry!" the armourer exclaimed, shocked by the insult. His breaths were shaky, but he continued, snapping at the psychologist, "Do not align yourself with the evildoers! We are all in this together, aren't we? To thwart this wicked plan?!"

Nobuyuki stopped bouncing, now wearing an indifferent expression. He threw his hands over the back of his head, rolling his eyes. "Not really. I'm here to play the game."

"What?" Mayari found herself fuming. "Are you fucking with us right now?"

"Nope, of course not!" The psychologist grinned, then turned to look at Nao, pointing straight at her face. "I mean, if anything, some of you look like you _want_ to play the game too. To escape, or just for fun? Whatcha think?"

"Lay your hands off her, you brute!" Margaret finally took the courage to step forward, reaching for the short-haired woman's hand and dragging her to her side. "Can you please not disrupt the madames and gentlemen here with such talk? If your goal is to play Negative Nancy, I think it is best for you to curtsy your way out."

"Killjoy," the man grumbled, faking a yawn. That annoyance, however, turned into his usual amused grin as he skipped over to the door, waving. "Well then, my work is done here. See you losers later, or not! Depends if you're dead! Peace!"

With the man gone, everyone took the time to breathe.

Mikoto had simply stayed silent for most of the time, her expression that of pure distaste and suspiciousness. She stood in her corner, sighing. "Jesus Christ, there's seriously something wrong with him."

Jian rolled his eyes. "Can't refute you there."

"Hmmm, might gonna chase after him," Akira admitted out of the blue. He scratched the back of his head, smiling over at the group. "We're supposed to check out the wristwatches, right? The dude might steal them, so I'm gonna chase. Wanna come, Elodie?"

"Ah, yeah, sure." The thanatologist nodded, the worry present on her face.

And with that, people began to move.

It honestly wasn't a surprise, really. Even when Mayari wanted to believe in the idea of teamwork and that they could escape (having heard Nao, Umaru, and a couple others speaking confidently about defying the wards), she did believe that what Akira and Nomi said held truth- not everyone was going to agree to what one person said, and Nobuyuki was a prime, obvious example of that.

And, if not just him, then it were the people the epidemiologist knew were much more suspicious and distrustful of the others. She could see how Mikoto left without a second to spare, how Jian left and ignored those who called out for him, and Gento who simply grunted to himself before moving. Even Rebeka had left, though it wasn't a surprise to the woman, seeing as they didn't get along, and the ludologist was the type who wasn't going to open up to the idea of teamwork so easily.

 _Ah, this sucks._ Mayari scratched her head, clicking her heels against the floor. She knew that the tensions were beginning to spread, far and beyond. Knowing that was deteriorating on her mental state, she figured, especially when she saw Margaret ushering Keni and Shura out, her motherly words, despite being soft spoken and quieted down, told the raven of the research participant and armourer's mental states.

"Mayari, are you, ah, alright?"

The epidemiologist turned to look at Machi, the taller woman eyeing her curiously. Mayari was caught off guard by the sudden attention, just awkwardly smiling and nodding her head. "Yeah, at least better than the others. Jesus fuck, Nobuyuki's such a bitch."

"I suppose…" It was obvious the biochemist didn't want to think about the man, just averting her gaze to the side. "Um, what are you going to do next, er, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Probably check my room and look for the wristwatch, not gonna lie." Even when the woman wanted to rebel and fight against Ares and the others, she figured she couldn't do it so abruptly, so carelessly. She needed to plan. "How about you?"

"Ah, same. Nao was thinking if we should all eat together and plan what to do from here, but, er, she's a bit hesitant now," she admitted, running her fingers down her featherly locks. "Umaru wants us to try at least."

 _Oh, okay._ Mayari nodded to herself, glancing over at Nao's group, motioning them to her. She raised a brow over at them. "Are you all planning to talk to the others about this?"

"Well, I don't think we should do it suddenly," the basketball player admitted, rubbing her wrists. "I'm just… not going to lie, after what went down, it's going to be hard to get everyone together, I think, but we can try. I'm more than willing to try to get the others to cooperate."

"We can always ask the others," Mayari mused, gesturing to the rest of the Ultimates who were in the room. "I'm pretty damn sure Silvana and Mazen wouldn't mind helping out, Michi too."

Ray frowned. "I would hope so, we need to have some structure here." He pointed to Nao. "I told Nao we should appoint a leader who will help us be brought into success, and I believe I have the qualities which should befall onto me as leader."

The epidemiologist shrugged. "If you did that before, I'm pretty damn sure you'd have some people who're gonna argue with you on that."

"The killing game is nothing more than a preposterous idea," the ice cream maker continued, shaking his head dismissively. "I refuse to take any part in a 'game' as trivial as that. It will not come into play, hence we need to put our focus into escaping."

"Hmm…" Mayari began to think to herself. While she did like the idea that the game was fake, she couldn't help but worry. "Well, I honestly might just take a nap or something when I go to my dorm. You're not going to plan to do something today, right?"

"Nope!" Umaru chirped, doing his best to assure the woman. "Ray and Nao were talking about it, and we all agreed to do it sometime soon. We'll tell you when the time comes."

"I think Libitina mentioned the wristwatch has a text function?" Mayari watched the people around her nod, and she smiled. "Well, you can text me the details later then. I'm really curious about what the watches are about, and, well, what Akira said is making me want to run and get my watch before Nobuyuki just nabs them all like some one-star rated villain."

"Pfft, we're not here to stop you," Ray mused, crossing his arms, keeping his chin held high.

"Yeah, of course." Nao smiled as well, nodding her head. "We'll text you when the time comes, alright?"

Mayari nodded in return, waving to the group before leaving, making her way out. It was empty now that she was alone, noting how the hallways were stretched out, the darkness making her view obscured. It was creepy, honestly, the woman feeling like the walls would cave in, crushing her into nothing more than a broken doll.

 _Yup, better not think about that kind of shit._ She shivered. Making her way down, it took a while before she reached the wards, finding how each of the wards' doors to the right had a nameplate, and a pixelated icon of its respective owner's face. She walked a couple of steps before she noticed her own room, seeing her nameplate that was in silver, and a picture of her pixelated face. It was to the left of Ray's, and to the right of Gento's.

 _Welp, as long as I don't share a room with any of the guys, I'm good._ She snorted inwardly at her own, lame comment, grabbing the handle of the door and swinging it open.

In comparison to the room she had woken up in, the room she was now the owner of was much more cleaner. Of course, it was nothing more than another hospital bed, but it was slightly personalized, the pillows colored a royal red and the mattress being a dark brown color, matching the diamond-patterned black-and-red blankets. There were even a few plushies and smaller pillows to be seen, though it covered half of the bed, the soft objects those that looked like microbes.

 _Yup, typical type of plushies I'd want._ She rolled her eyes playfully to herself, amused. She then took notice of the walls that were colored in gradients of purples and blacks, similar to the black night. She even had to take notice of the spots of whites and grays and much more pastel-like colors that made up a starry sky, or the ceiling that was painted to show an outline of the five stages of disease, cartoonish in a way.

There were even star-shaped fairy lights that were hung around the room, acting as the lights. Searching further, the epidemiologist found a couple of things: a small section/room that was her own shower and bathroom (she would've been pissed if she wasn't given this necessity), a cabinet that held some clothes (those she doesn't remember ever buying or wearing, but strangely they looked like they fitted her perfectly), a notebook with some pens, and then a couple of books on diseases and public health.

With all of these things, the only thought that escaped the woman's mind after a complete surveillance was: _why the fuck are they spoiling me?_

Her worries were amped up because of this, though she forced herself to dismiss it, digging through her plushies and bouncing on her bed, slipping off her heels. Kicking her feet about, she searched into the field of plushies and pillows before finally finding the wristwatch that her captors told her about.

It was similar to those tech-savvy watches, noting how it acted as a miniature phone. She slowly moved over to wear the wristwatch, a bit intrigued by how it seemed to fit her perfectly. Colored a dark brown color, it matched her dark type of palette well, the woman nodding before tapping the screen, the device booting up instantly without a second.

The wallpaper was nothing special, other than the gradients of blues, pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows- similar to a sunset, she figured. Seeing that the time on the watch was 8:47 PM, it relieved her to know that she would be able to tell the time in captivity. Time was essential to just about anyone, and being forced away from that knowledge was going to drive people insane, she believed.

Investigating through the watch now, Mayari saw a couple of things. Intrigued by the app that was titled 'Profiles', she had clicked onto it. This was the first thing she noticed; the app had contained the profiles on her and everyone else (sans the wards, all to her discontent), though information spread only to the basics. There, she found a picture of herself, smiling. It was uncanny, her body shuddering before she glanced at her information.

Everything was right, nothing vague- accurate, the information was accurate. That honestly caused her to gasp in disgust (in the slightest bit, from fear as well), and she quickly scrolled back and tapped to the homescreen.

The next thing she took notice of, of course, was the app titled 'Rules and Regulations'. There, she saw everything she was curious about, yet it left her with more questions.

* * *

 **Rules and Regulations**

 **1\. Subjects are allowed to reside within perimeters of the building. Leaving the designated area will result in consequences.**

 **2\. Nighttime will be from 9 PM to 6 AM. During this time, some areas are off-limits, so it is advised to travel/explore the perimeters with caution.**

 **3\. Sleeping anywhere but your own rooms will result in punishment.**

 **4\. You are allowed to explore the area as you wish, with minimal restrictions.**

 **5\. Violence against the wards is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of property. Punishment will be given if this rule is broken.**

 **6\. Anyone who kills will be able to escape the premises of the building if they are able to win a trial and become 'Savior'.**

 **7\. Additional rules can be added later, and the rules above, as well, can change.**

* * *

 _Are you kidding me? This literally explained nothing. Fucking hell. And these bitches can just add and change the rules? That's not a good sign at all._ However, while the rules had struck her as odd (and to an extent, useless at the moment), Mayari found herself turning to the next page, her eyebrows furrowing upon the sight. Something that had baffled her further, making her stomach churn.

* * *

 **The Holy Sancutary's Clause**

 **The subjects here have granted us the right to place them into this experiment which will contribute to the sustainability of Earth. Participating in this experiment, these subjects have agreed to partake in a killing game, accepting the consequences and risks that come with the task.**

 **Strictly monitored for research, the subjects are individually responsible for what happens in the experiment. If the experiment were to fail, then it is the subjects' fault. The rate of success, as low as it currently is, will not hinder our duty to help sustain life on Earth. With the failures of other projects, both us and the subjects are fully prepared with what can happen.**

 **Thus, any actions caused in the experiment will not lead to unwarranted surprise from us nor the subjects. This experiment is supported by a bountiful of organizations, and backed with support from the community.**

* * *

And that screamed to Mayari was utter bullshit, her eyebrows furrowing. There was half a mind for her to take off her watch and trash it to the floor, but she didn't, only scowling at what she read.

 _A killing game, supported by people? We agreed to this? This type of shit? No! Fuck no we didn't!_ Mayari's heart was throbbing, her head beginning to ache from all the anger that had built up inside her. This wasn't possible, there was no way she could believe such a ridiculous thing.

The clause was fake, she told herself. Nothing more than a fabrication, a lie to trick her into a false sense of trust to the wards and to shove her into a state of Stockholm Syndrome.

Love for the wards, love for the killing game.

The minigames, the note app, any other extra, those didn't matter to her.

Even the text function didn't matter to her at the moment. What mattered to her was the fact that the wards were toying with her, with the Ultimates.

And that concerned her greatly.

* * *

With that, the Prologue part of the story is finally done, and we can get into the meat of things, or the Chapters! Hence, that means that we can get into the killing game, all them juicy interactions, etc... oh, and the investigations and trials, duh! Since the Prologue is over, I'd like to say that I actually do have **a poll up on my profile for the FTEs for Chapter 1**! Please go vote there if you haven't already!

Here are some SYOC recommendations, like always!

 **Danganronpa: Beyond Broken** by LynnRowe

 **Danganronpa: Etch it Into my Heart** by RioA (me, of course!)

 **Danganronpa: Fresh Meat** by mandipokemon

 **Danganronpa: Lights, Camera, Murder!** by DancingCactuar (Prince PokePersona is helping out too!)

 **Danganronpa: Remnants of My Heart** by Prince PokePersona

 **Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell** by Prince PokePersona

 **Dead Zeppelin** by Orlando Butler

 **For Whom the Rabbits Mourn** by SanityRequiem

And with that, I think I am done for the day! I'll see you all next time when I update the next chapter! Hopefully when the next chapter comes, we won't have too much suffering... maybe! For now, have a great day and stay peachy!


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